ysabetwordsmith (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-03-05 07:34 pm
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-03-05 07:34 pm
Entry tags:
Poem: "Weeping Over the Trail They Almost Walked"
This poem came out of the March 4, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from siliconshaman and readera. It also fills the "tears" square in my 3-1-25 card for the Tolkien Bingo Fest. This poem has been sponsored by siliconshaman. It belongs to the Bear Tunnels series.
WARNING: This poem touches on genocide and historic trauma in the prime timeline, which is upsetting people in the alternate timeline. Please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.
"Weeping Over the Trail They Almost Walked"
[Late 1638]
One Eagle was sobbing his heart out.
Highrock sat beside him, humming
as she stroked his long black hair.
Jesse Harris sat down beside them.
"What happened here?" he asked.
"One Eagle found the stories of
the other ancestors," said Highrock.
"He figured out a little while ago
that you and Emma aren't from
this time and place, but unlike me,
he didn't say anything to anyone.
He just kept digging on his own."
"And fell in over his head,"
Jesse said with a sigh. "Well,
I know how that goes. My people
had a hard road in that other time,
black people as well as tribal people."
"How do you --" Highrock waved
a hand. "-- deal with all that?"
"I traveled back in time to fix
whatever I could," Jesse drawled.
"It's so brave," said Highrock. "I
don't think I would dare travel
to your time, even if I could."
Jesse hugged her. "I would
never want you to," he said.
"It's just that, sometimes when
you reach the end of where
your framework actually applies,
you have to leap into the unknown."
"I'm so glad you did," said Highrock.
"You and Emma saved all of us."
"No," said Jesse. "We just
helped you to save yourselves."
One Eagle finally sat up, dragging
a hand across his face. It stayed wet.
"How are you?" Jesse asked him.
"Reading about the past can be
quite upsetting, even before we
throw time travel into the mix."
"I feel like a rabbit that's been
skinned and slit open to scoop
all the insides out," said One Eagle.
"Raw and gutted," Jesse said with
a nod. "I often feel that way after
reading difficult bits of history --
which is most history, honestly."
"What they did to the women
was worse," Highrock added.
"Why are people so horrible?"
One Eagle said, almost wailing.
"No one knows that for sure,"
said Jesse. "I believe that
most wicked people choose
to be wicked. Some of them
are too broken to behave better,
and a rare few may be born
without a proper conscience."
"They should've known better,"
One Eagle said fiercely. "They
had all that extra time to learn!"
"I agree," said Jesse. "I came
back because I believed that we
could do better, though. What
were you reading this time
that upset you so much?"
"My Grandfather's Feet Wept
Tears of Blood," said One Eagle.
"I thought about what happened to
those people, then about the people
I know and I found myself weeping
over the trail they almost walked."
"Ah, that will do it," Jesse agreed.
"That book made me cry too."
"I cried when I read about
the Red Hand," said Highrock.
"So many women and girls
stolen away or just murdered!"
"I know we managed to fight off
the Boat People, but I still worry,"
said One Eagle. "What if they
return? I feel like we should
be preparing for the worst."
"I feel the same," said Jesse.
"This is why we teach people
to make allies and to stand
strong together -- so we can
keep repelling any attempts at
invasion. They won't catch us by
surprise because we know of them."
"Now that I've read what they want
to do to us, I know too," said One Eagle.
"Highrock and I will help you stop them."
"Then you are the ones we came back
to find," Jesse said, putting a hand on
his shoulder. "I am honored to know you."
It had been worth every sacrifice.
* * *
Notes:
"Every Time There Was Some Uncertainty" 4-8-22
Story Date: 1638
Summary: Highrock comes to a conclusion about Emma and Jesse.
(These links are heinous.)
The Trail Where They Cried, or the Trail of Tears, was an act of genocide and grand theft continent by the United States government in which thousands of indigenous people were forced from their land and death-marched across North America to less desirable lands. Thousands of people died, on some trips more than a quarter of the victims. Affected tribes include the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Ho-Chunk/Winnebago Muscogee, Ponca, and Seminole. Never forget.
View my recommended reading list of the Trail of Tears.
My Grandfather's Feet Wept Tears of Blood is a Bear-American book written by a Cherokee man in Oklahoma, a descendant from ancestors who walked the Trail of Tears. It includes sections of the political history behind forced removal and other acts of genocide, family photos and memoirs, a community study of Cherokee villages and neighborhoods in Oklahoma, a look at the surviving culture there, and an overview of contemporary Native American activism for tribal sovereignty and land recovery.
(These links are heinous too.)
A red handprint symbolizes the missing and murdered indigenous women, who disappear in high numbers with little attention from law or media. Learn about the problem and speak up for those who no longer have a voice.
siliconshaman and readera. It also fills the "tears" square in my 3-1-25 card for the Tolkien Bingo Fest. This poem has been sponsored by siliconshaman. It belongs to the Bear Tunnels series.WARNING: This poem touches on genocide and historic trauma in the prime timeline, which is upsetting people in the alternate timeline. Please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward.
"Weeping Over the Trail They Almost Walked"
[Late 1638]
One Eagle was sobbing his heart out.
Highrock sat beside him, humming
as she stroked his long black hair.
Jesse Harris sat down beside them.
"What happened here?" he asked.
"One Eagle found the stories of
the other ancestors," said Highrock.
"He figured out a little while ago
that you and Emma aren't from
this time and place, but unlike me,
he didn't say anything to anyone.
He just kept digging on his own."
"And fell in over his head,"
Jesse said with a sigh. "Well,
I know how that goes. My people
had a hard road in that other time,
black people as well as tribal people."
"How do you --" Highrock waved
a hand. "-- deal with all that?"
"I traveled back in time to fix
whatever I could," Jesse drawled.
"It's so brave," said Highrock. "I
don't think I would dare travel
to your time, even if I could."
Jesse hugged her. "I would
never want you to," he said.
"It's just that, sometimes when
you reach the end of where
your framework actually applies,
you have to leap into the unknown."
"I'm so glad you did," said Highrock.
"You and Emma saved all of us."
"No," said Jesse. "We just
helped you to save yourselves."
One Eagle finally sat up, dragging
a hand across his face. It stayed wet.
"How are you?" Jesse asked him.
"Reading about the past can be
quite upsetting, even before we
throw time travel into the mix."
"I feel like a rabbit that's been
skinned and slit open to scoop
all the insides out," said One Eagle.
"Raw and gutted," Jesse said with
a nod. "I often feel that way after
reading difficult bits of history --
which is most history, honestly."
"What they did to the women
was worse," Highrock added.
"Why are people so horrible?"
One Eagle said, almost wailing.
"No one knows that for sure,"
said Jesse. "I believe that
most wicked people choose
to be wicked. Some of them
are too broken to behave better,
and a rare few may be born
without a proper conscience."
"They should've known better,"
One Eagle said fiercely. "They
had all that extra time to learn!"
"I agree," said Jesse. "I came
back because I believed that we
could do better, though. What
were you reading this time
that upset you so much?"
"My Grandfather's Feet Wept
Tears of Blood," said One Eagle.
"I thought about what happened to
those people, then about the people
I know and I found myself weeping
over the trail they almost walked."
"Ah, that will do it," Jesse agreed.
"That book made me cry too."
"I cried when I read about
the Red Hand," said Highrock.
"So many women and girls
stolen away or just murdered!"
"I know we managed to fight off
the Boat People, but I still worry,"
said One Eagle. "What if they
return? I feel like we should
be preparing for the worst."
"I feel the same," said Jesse.
"This is why we teach people
to make allies and to stand
strong together -- so we can
keep repelling any attempts at
invasion. They won't catch us by
surprise because we know of them."
"Now that I've read what they want
to do to us, I know too," said One Eagle.
"Highrock and I will help you stop them."
"Then you are the ones we came back
to find," Jesse said, putting a hand on
his shoulder. "I am honored to know you."
It had been worth every sacrifice.
* * *
Notes:
"Every Time There Was Some Uncertainty" 4-8-22
Story Date: 1638
Summary: Highrock comes to a conclusion about Emma and Jesse.
(These links are heinous.)
The Trail Where They Cried, or the Trail of Tears, was an act of genocide and grand theft continent by the United States government in which thousands of indigenous people were forced from their land and death-marched across North America to less desirable lands. Thousands of people died, on some trips more than a quarter of the victims. Affected tribes include the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Ho-Chunk/Winnebago Muscogee, Ponca, and Seminole. Never forget.
View my recommended reading list of the Trail of Tears.
My Grandfather's Feet Wept Tears of Blood is a Bear-American book written by a Cherokee man in Oklahoma, a descendant from ancestors who walked the Trail of Tears. It includes sections of the political history behind forced removal and other acts of genocide, family photos and memoirs, a community study of Cherokee villages and neighborhoods in Oklahoma, a look at the surviving culture there, and an overview of contemporary Native American activism for tribal sovereignty and land recovery.
(These links are heinous too.)
A red handprint symbolizes the missing and murdered indigenous women, who disappear in high numbers with little attention from law or media. Learn about the problem and speak up for those who no longer have a voice.
no subject
Well ...
Re: Well ...
Re: Well ...
Re: Well ...
no subject
Thoughts
Then I did it right.
>> This was a good read but it showed such sadness for what almost was for them & what did happen for us. <<
That's what alternate history is all about -- the frission between what is, what was, and what might have been.