Abridged, from yesterday

we plant a tree with chief jake swamp
remembering the sacred native grounds
where loved ones leaders children
were buried

on top of bones a city stands
skyscrapers cathedrals boulevards buildings
their final resting places desecrated
their memorials crushed
their right to commune here annihilated

the name, Progress

scents of smudge stick tinge crisp fall air
we turn circles honoring the four directions
i watch as my hands scoop dirt upon the roots

grow and flourish, i pray
i will come back
to visit you
to remember them
to grieve and mourn
your losses
and my own

driving away i pass city block after city block
were they here, the mounds? or was it here, or here?

needing to write i stop
amid construction on Liberty’s lots
like native burial grounds they too were razed
people pushed out
homes demolished
public housing turned “mixed-income”

that name again, Progress

we could plant trees here too
but we don't

i pray anyway
grow and flourish
i will come back
to visit you
to remember them
to grieve and mourn
your losses
and my own