American Indian tribe returns to abandoned village
fiction
edward w pritchard
Dark night
cold winds howl
women carry starving children
warriors drag elderly
warrior carries broken weapons, useless shields
no meat, bad water, cold camp,
mounted soldiers on strong horses watch for night fires to kill remainder of tribe
dark night, cold winds howl, children have no blankets,
grown children sleep on ground and cry
warrior hangs head in cupped broken hands
strong wife's face show many emotions holding baby
wife put free hand against warriors back
warrior sobs in dark, baby stares at warrior
clear sky, million stars in milky way above
wife thump thump thumps sobbing warriors back with free hand chanting, chanting to dead ancestors
sobbing warrior mumbles to gods, return buffalo, restore abandoned village to happier times
in morning, children search, search, search abandoned village's sacred grounds for spent carbine shells from soldiers repeating rifles to sell on strings to Indian agent at reservation
wife carries baby and searches sacred ground for plants for breakfast
warrior sits on rock and carves arrow
after breakfast, elderly woman dances ghost dance before today's march
as tribe marches out of village, old man sweeps juniper branches across sacred grounds to erase footprints
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