TRADITIONS
They have always come with dogs
and guns and their fat pink god
gnawing at its leash. As is tradition
somewhere a wikiup has razed
and rebuilt itself from salvaged air
while no one was watching. The children
and elders, all of our heads black bagged
and sunk into the deep stillness of earth
or some museum auction. And closer
than we would like a game is being played—
the stadium filled with the fans’ pitless stares,
the roars flooding over one slobbering tongue.
—Poets Respond
November 6, 2016
__________
Laura Esposto: “The World Series has come to an end, but unfortunately the Cleveland baseball team’s popularity has remained steadfast. While real Native Americans are risking their lives to protect sacred sites and civil rights against the DAPL, the hateful mascot lives on. The mainstream United States wants the image but not the struggle; they demand we keep grinning. ” (website)
