When I woke...

This morning I'm thinking abut John Trudell -- perhaps because I'm thinking about the events in life that motivate poets. Some are harsh, brutal - some are striking, touching - the challenge for a poet is to capture these moments with words. Make them into something and if inspired, share them with others.

A Reason for Corn
By Toni


John Trudell is following the lines
as a mandate for his life
since the day of the fire

before following the lines
there was Vietnam and Alcatraz
Wounded Knee and the BIA

he warned us on the day he burned the US flag
in 12 hours
smoke and flames
claimed all he loved in this world

for now, his love’s are embedded in the land
he knows that five bodies
in boxes
below dirt
will surely grow corn

so, John Trudell will follow the lines
as any poet must
until the day the land swallows him whole
and corn grows in lines
where he once stood

John Trudell is a poet and activist.His outspoken ways and probing questions have made him a major element in the American Indian Movement. He lost his wife and children in a suspicious house fire. He may not see himself as a hero – because frequently, a hero moves through the world with the best intentions, this alone is heroic.