Pick my dark broken heart up off the
cold, hard stone floor and mind the tiny,
ragged shards of shattered sweet dreams.
Step carefully among the remnants
of ambition and scattered pieces
of broken promises unseen.
Pour a glass of apathetic wine
from that bottle of indifference
and rest in alienation.
Better still; dance with me in a
drunken waltz of disbelief to
a melody of deep melancholy.
Never mind the bodies of victims
that litter the battleground; blind
fools lost in their own self-deception.
Just wine and dine, and dance to the
music of orchestrated lies and glide
with me across the concrete floor.
Author notes
This effort is dedicated to the victrims of the government's RELOCATION PROGRAMS of the late forties, fifties, sixties, and into the mid-seventies. The programs were designed to entice young native americans into the cities for higher education and higher paying trades. The government's agenda was to get native people off the reservations, split the family-communities, and abandon their cultural traditions. But, for several reasons the programs failed and hundreds of students were left stranded in the urban settings. Some were too enbarrassed to return home, some committed suicide out of depression, and others did find menial jobs. Too few found any kind of success and more than enough found refuge lingering on the skidrow section of cities for the rest of their lives. This is a syllabic poem consisting of six verses, with each verse containing twenty-six syllables. This is the twenty-third rewrite (my mooses won't let me say what needs to be said...(LOL)!
Comments
1 - 6 of 6
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Your poem and AN speaks of a tragedy few of us knew about or really thought twice about. Our government stole again and again from Native Americans, promises made were broken or empty from the get go. This is a well written poem. I can believe the number of rewrites it took to arrive here. I'm always rewriting, pruning, editing my work.
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Pour a glass of apathetic wine
from that bottle of indifference
and rest in alienation.
Better still; dance with me in a
drunken waltz of disbelief to
a melody of deep melancholy.
and
Just wine and dine, and dance to the
music of orchestrated lies and glide
with me across the concrete floor.
= Very much liked. [=
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Punch-drunk-love, much?! I loved it, though it was a bit racy. Great write!
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broken heart
shattered dreams
and a drunken dance of disbelief
though this poem speaks specifically
to your experience,
it can be applied universally
to a disappointed life -
very well done
an excellent poem
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Very powerful..
and such a striking poem...the last verse is amazing and the others set the tone perfectly. As always, your AN gives great enlightenment. Scandelous that the government wreaked havoc on so many lives, as governments so often do (without retribution) consequences of their actions unaccounted for...it is so heartbreaking when the personal cost is highlighted by someone like yourself......Makes you want to scream!
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The goverment is something else
You at times can't live with it, then there are times you can't live with out it. Depends on what your problem is...mac
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