BY GLORIA O’KOYE
Selling foreign lands
To ‘preserve’ peace,
When the lands were taken
By force
Thousands of years ignored
In celebration of
Only a hundred and a bit more!
Protectors of
Land and Water,
Strangers don’t understand
The responsibilities
Of caring for these lands
They’ve marked their own.
Only panic when The Turtle
Will force itself to recover,
Only in troubled waters
They seek help from the elders
Only to disrespect once they gain
Upper hand,
And repeat the cycle.
Its riches are fertile
And only the rightful Keepers
Will know
How to make the best of it
Taking only what is needed
Because greed will toil the minerals
And nutrients
Until the lands run dry,
And to be discarded
As useless
Only the rightful heirs would know
How to prepare the golden treats
For our stomachs for digestion
Giving thanks to every harvest
And to return what was taken
So maintain a healthy
Relationship
These lands will produce what it has received,
And the difference will no longer be hidden.
The past deeds will sprout out like a field of weeds,
That those with knowledge know which ones can be eaten.
What is stolen
Must be returned
What is not returned
The calmer route
Would lead something worse.
What is stolen
Must be returned
What is stolen
Shall be returned
One way
Or
The other.
