First Impressions......

Deadwood
casino ghost town
feeding
on shadow people
gorging
on slots morning noon and night
die-eyed junkies craving
24 hour fixes.....
all I see are casinos...and
a gift shop or two
where are the schools...stores...libraries...
I know we’re in Indian Country but....
where are the brown faces...and
I’ve heard of generations...Chinese
living...loving...dying here...but
where are they
those descended
from brave ancestors
come to a natives’ land
questing another way of life...

©pralinanmi

main street...
pulse of a town
pound pound pounding
nonstop booze lights and cigarettes...
lies sandwiched in
rising hills
where houses sit perched
like ducks on a ledge....
Black Hills...sacredness
ignored
by generations of coin clinkers
choosing to live
a present bourne of past
gun smoke...prostitution and
discrimination against
both native and foreign....

©pralinanmi

I feel hauntings on main street
spirits
filling the air with legends
so strong
everyone breathes it...can’t let go of it...
feels compelled to honor it
in this way
those whose lives paid the cost
refuse to be forgotten...and
year by year
call for the lions
to return
dance
the strange animal away...and
cleanse the new year..................

©pralinanmi