Some Contemporary Tribal Poetry

IVY HANSDAK

Distant Drums

I’m a creature born of primal earth,

Not a heathen you might save;

I’m a creature bred in light and shade,

Not a dull, brutish savage.

I’m a creature built of moss and stone,

With a mind, a heart, a soul;

I’ve a mighty river in my breasts,

A tornado in my veins.

My heart beats to the distant rhythm

Of bees, locusts and sparrows;

I’m torn down by your rapacious hands

But I rise again and grow.

Alien Song

You forced me to speak in alien tongues,

And forget my own sweet one;

You forced me to live in alien towns,

And forget my forest home.

You forced me to sing strange, alien songs,

And forget my rhyming ones;

You forced me to think strange, alien thoughts,

And forget my tales of old.

But when I sang my pain in words

Borrowed from those alien tongues,

You bade me stop and unlearn

My words, my thoughts, my song.