Poem: "A Generous Impulse"
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ysabetwordsmithThis poem came out of the March 17, 2026 Bonus Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from chanter1944. It also fills the "Sewing" square in my 3-1-26 card for the National Crafting Month Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by janetmiles. It belongs to the Iron Horses thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.
"A Generous Impulse"
[Friday, November 13, 2015]
The buffalo were growing.
Ron could feel them,
a soft presence in his mind,
like the brown underwool
that they shed in the spring.
It was good that they were
returning to places where
their ancestors once roamed.
Several of the tribes who
were adding a herd had
asked Ron to come check on
them, given his buffalo totem.
The Iron Horses had already
visited the herd that belonged to
the Nemaha Half-Breed Reservation.
Today they were going to visit
the Little Bend Reservation,
along the Minnesota River.
They rode their motorbikes
through the many acres of
patchwork forest, farmland,
and a few remnants of prairie.
Tom Harjo met them where
the buffalo herd grazed on
a broad swath of prairie.
"Welcome to Little Bend,"
he said. "Ron, thank you
so much for coming. We
want to make sure that
the buffalo are happy here."
"I'm glad I could help," said Ron.
"We just did Nemaha, after a friend
bought a whole cow for their new herd."
"We're still amazed that Little Lynx
chipped in that much," said Joseph.
"Gegwa nagaasadooke maamiikimanjoyin,"
said Tom. "Don’t resist a generous impulse."
"Oh, we accepted, it was just startling,"
said Joseph. "Nemaha eventually
did reach their target for the herd."
"Well, come take a look at ours,"
said Tom. "We have twelve now.
We gave them 330 acres of
native prairie, most of it restored
from former farmland along with
a few remnants of untouched ground."
"All right, time to get started on this,"
Ron said, peeling off shirt and jacket.
His skin quickly pebbled in the cold.
Joseph and Ben helped to paint
over his scars with ceremonial colors:
white, yellow, red, and black.
Ron walked a little closer
to the herd, then sat down.
He opened his senses
to his totem, to see if
the buffalo wanted him
to carry a message.
Eventually he felt
a little niggle of
dissatisfaction.
Ron watched them
as they took a few bites
of grass, then moved on
before sampling again.
Eventually he figured it out,
then went to talk with Tom.
"What's up?" Tom asked.
"We could see you frowning."
"They don't love the grass here,"
Ron explained. "Watch them --
they're more nibbling than mowing."
Tom sighed. "I see it," he said.
"This is restored prairie, but
some of it is a work in progress.
This area used to be pasture."
"Yeah, the old pasture grasses
are still sprinkled around," Ron said,
dragging a hand through the stems.
"Well, it's too late in the season to work on
now," said Tom. "I guess that we can plant
more native grasses and flowers in spring,
but I don't want to tear up too much."
"Some of the grass dancers have
prairie medicine," said Ben. "I've
seen how fast they make grass grow.
Imagine sewing all those pieces of yarn
to your regalia so it moves like grass."
"Ah, there's an idea," said Tom. "Do
you think alfalfa would help for now?"
"Sure, they like alfalfa," said Ron.
"Just remember that you need
to feed them what you want
to grow around here, because
part of their role in the prairie
is dispersing seeds," said Ron.
"Maybe not alfalfa then,"
Tom said with a grimace.
"We could go haying,"
said Joseph. "The grass
is all dried out, standing hay.
If there's public land, or a park,
we could ask permission
to cut some for the buffalo."
"Now that could work," said Tom.
"The Northern Tallgrass Prairie
National Wildlife Refuge has grass."
"We'll figure something out,"
said Joseph. "It's just like learning
to sew -- even if the lines are wonky,
the clothes usually still fit somehow."
"The buffalo understand," said Ron.
* * *
Notes:
Gegwa nagaasadooke maamiikimanjoyin.
Don’t resist a generous impulse.
"He Made Some Houses"
Story Date: 1968-2015
Summary: A young Dakota man gets tired of shabby government housing and starts building his own.
"Iron-Like Animals"
Story Date: Sunday, October 4, 2015
Summary: Shiv helps the Iron Horses with fundraising for buffalo.
(The Nemaha Half-Breed Reservation is in the setting notes.)
The changing of the four colors of the White Buffalo Calf Woman represents the four colors of man–white, yellow, red and black. These colors also represent the four directions, north, east, south and west.
BISON: A KEYSTONE SPECIES HIGHLIGHT
Minnesota Federal Land Map
The Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge spans Iowa and Minnesota. It covers about 5,000 acres.
chanter1944. It also fills the "Sewing" square in my 3-1-26 card for the National Crafting Month Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by janetmiles. It belongs to the Iron Horses thread of the Polychrome Heroics series."A Generous Impulse"
[Friday, November 13, 2015]
The buffalo were growing.
Ron could feel them,
a soft presence in his mind,
like the brown underwool
that they shed in the spring.
It was good that they were
returning to places where
their ancestors once roamed.
Several of the tribes who
were adding a herd had
asked Ron to come check on
them, given his buffalo totem.
The Iron Horses had already
visited the herd that belonged to
the Nemaha Half-Breed Reservation.
Today they were going to visit
the Little Bend Reservation,
along the Minnesota River.
They rode their motorbikes
through the many acres of
patchwork forest, farmland,
and a few remnants of prairie.
Tom Harjo met them where
the buffalo herd grazed on
a broad swath of prairie.
"Welcome to Little Bend,"
he said. "Ron, thank you
so much for coming. We
want to make sure that
the buffalo are happy here."
"I'm glad I could help," said Ron.
"We just did Nemaha, after a friend
bought a whole cow for their new herd."
"We're still amazed that Little Lynx
chipped in that much," said Joseph.
"Gegwa nagaasadooke maamiikimanjoyin,"
said Tom. "Don’t resist a generous impulse."
"Oh, we accepted, it was just startling,"
said Joseph. "Nemaha eventually
did reach their target for the herd."
"Well, come take a look at ours,"
said Tom. "We have twelve now.
We gave them 330 acres of
native prairie, most of it restored
from former farmland along with
a few remnants of untouched ground."
"All right, time to get started on this,"
Ron said, peeling off shirt and jacket.
His skin quickly pebbled in the cold.
Joseph and Ben helped to paint
over his scars with ceremonial colors:
white, yellow, red, and black.
Ron walked a little closer
to the herd, then sat down.
He opened his senses
to his totem, to see if
the buffalo wanted him
to carry a message.
Eventually he felt
a little niggle of
dissatisfaction.
Ron watched them
as they took a few bites
of grass, then moved on
before sampling again.
Eventually he figured it out,
then went to talk with Tom.
"What's up?" Tom asked.
"We could see you frowning."
"They don't love the grass here,"
Ron explained. "Watch them --
they're more nibbling than mowing."
Tom sighed. "I see it," he said.
"This is restored prairie, but
some of it is a work in progress.
This area used to be pasture."
"Yeah, the old pasture grasses
are still sprinkled around," Ron said,
dragging a hand through the stems.
"Well, it's too late in the season to work on
now," said Tom. "I guess that we can plant
more native grasses and flowers in spring,
but I don't want to tear up too much."
"Some of the grass dancers have
prairie medicine," said Ben. "I've
seen how fast they make grass grow.
Imagine sewing all those pieces of yarn
to your regalia so it moves like grass."
"Ah, there's an idea," said Tom. "Do
you think alfalfa would help for now?"
"Sure, they like alfalfa," said Ron.
"Just remember that you need
to feed them what you want
to grow around here, because
part of their role in the prairie
is dispersing seeds," said Ron.
"Maybe not alfalfa then,"
Tom said with a grimace.
"We could go haying,"
said Joseph. "The grass
is all dried out, standing hay.
If there's public land, or a park,
we could ask permission
to cut some for the buffalo."
"Now that could work," said Tom.
"The Northern Tallgrass Prairie
National Wildlife Refuge has grass."
"We'll figure something out,"
said Joseph. "It's just like learning
to sew -- even if the lines are wonky,
the clothes usually still fit somehow."
"The buffalo understand," said Ron.
* * *
Notes:
Gegwa nagaasadooke maamiikimanjoyin.
Don’t resist a generous impulse.
"He Made Some Houses"
Story Date: 1968-2015
Summary: A young Dakota man gets tired of shabby government housing and starts building his own.
"Iron-Like Animals"
Story Date: Sunday, October 4, 2015
Summary: Shiv helps the Iron Horses with fundraising for buffalo.
(The Nemaha Half-Breed Reservation is in the setting notes.)
The changing of the four colors of the White Buffalo Calf Woman represents the four colors of man–white, yellow, red and black. These colors also represent the four directions, north, east, south and west.
BISON: A KEYSTONE SPECIES HIGHLIGHT
Minnesota Federal Land Map
The Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge spans Iowa and Minnesota. It covers about 5,000 acres.
