WHOSE WINTER LEDGER?

Snow always, at first, pristine,
soon mysterious, what's left unseen,
too little idea of what or who gets weaned.
 
The local hardware store's wish came true,
while some other stores didn't get their due.
Under pale yellow sun the shoveling out,
occasionally looking up for the blue.
 
On some Indian Reservations--
Pine Ridge, Rosebud, Cheyenne River, Crow Creek,
and Standing Rock over 1000 families got snowed in,
10-foot drifts in places - Food? Heat? Water?
Barely any news and much help needed
for this so-called United "state of emergency."
 
Kids get excited to be home from school,
they play 'cause that's their golden rule,
while adults mostly work with tools.
 
You could say the weather's cruel,
but what about the greedy fools . . .

PS

Links for more information and to help American Indian families and community: Changing Winds Advocacy Center and Operation Morning Star

Mankh reads Whose Winter Ledger?

Mankh (Walter E. Harris III) is a frequent guest poet and essayist on Axis of Logic. He is a writer, small press publisher, and Turtle Islander. His work has been published worldwide and his most recent book of poems is Adam Had No Earthly Navel. You can contact him via his literary website

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FROM MANKH ON AXIS OF LOGIC