Buffalo Woman

Buffalo Woman

They called her ''Buffalo woman'', 

a name she was proud to wear.

Her head held high, her body strong,

to the spirit world her being belonged.

Right from the start the whole tribe knew,

this child was different, like snow and dew.

Her breath was sweet, her eyes were bright,

she seemed to carry within her,

an inextinguishable kind of light.

Even as a child, she always knew,

when the buffalo was near and the hunt was due.

The elders, the wise, the warriors, the guides,

slowly but surely learnt to trust this child.

For each buffalo who gave up its life;
 grand old beasts that nourished the tribe,
the buffalo girl offered words of kindness,
words of courage, words of thankfulness.

The years went by in much the same way,
they hunted, they gathered, the children played.
They danced, they smoked, they beat their drums,
until that day,  when they first heard guns.

Vision after vision of hard times ahead,
haunted the wise and filled them with dread.
When the Buffalo woman began to weep
a council was called, for all to meet.

When asked why she was weeping
she said ''I am deeply grieving.
A change is coming and with it much pain,
life as we know it will no longer remain.

Our friend the buffalo will be mercilessly hunted,
in numbers so large, they can not be counted.
They will be skinned and their bodies left to rot,
by ruthless hunters who doesn't care a lot''.
(Citizen Z)

Not only did ruthless hunters mercilessly kill
buffalo, but history tells us that they also killed
numerous native peoples.
Come to think of it, not only hunters have killed
people mercilessly, people have killed people
since year dot ''in the name of............''
Seems us human beings have a big problem with
being able to embrace cultures and peoples different to us.
Technologically we have progressed, but emotionally?
In my view, not so much.
We can do better.

''A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited
in time and space. He/she experiences himself, his thoughts and
feelings as separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion
of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us,
restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.
Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening
our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the
whole of nature in its beauty.''
(Albert Einstein)