Native Writings III

[grafika]

Drums for Peltier

Paintings by Leonard Peltier

Drums for Peltier,

    conga drums,

        water drums,

            bata drums,

Ponca drums,

    Lakota drums,

        Otoe drums,

Cheyenne drums,

    First Nation drums,

skin tight,

    hands slap the skins,

new skin

    over old skin,

heart beat,

    breath beat,

        dream beat,

the drumming of feet

    on mother earth,

she drums back in contentment,

    deep voice of love,

drumming for Peltier

    across the night,

        sunrise and sunset,

drumming ocean waves of hope,

    crashing the rocks of injustice,

put them hands on the skin,

    new skin over old skin,

ancestor skin,

    seven generation skin,

        regeneration skin,

we go on beating,

    never retreating,

we are skin

    caressing skin,

drum echoes dance Paha Sapa,

    dance Leonard,

        repair the circles,

spirit drums,

    eagle drums,

        wolf drums,

all relation drums,

    hand in hand,

        arm in arm,

wall of voice

    calling for freedom,

        for Leonard,

handing him the drum,

    the skin of our soul,

beating the drum

    for us and Peltier,

for generations of breath

    that sing in the drum.