After Wounded Knee | Teen Ink
  1. Home
  2. Poetry
  3. Free Verse
  4. After Wounded Knee

After Wounded Knee MAG

March 1, 2009
By Elise Lockwood BRONZE, Carmel, Indiana
More by this author
Elise Lockwood BRONZE, Carmel, Indiana
1 article 0 photos 0 comments
View profile

You still wear that old war paint
(angry lines slashed above your eyes)
I can feel you waiting for the battle to come
(spikes of red staining your cheeks)
There are no pawing horses now
No painted hands on their haunches
(the number of warrior souls you stole)
No noonday sun beating on bare backs
No smell of sweat and leather and bravery
Puncturing the familiar woodsmoke
(breastplates of porcupine quills, feathers in hair)
No ululations of war, yelling at fear
No singing, no dancing, no tribes, no homes
(scars left from the struggle free from the sun)
Just a drum drum drum beat
(a piece of flesh left for the Great Spirit)
Piercing through dreams.

© Olivia E., Alto, MI

The author's comments:
This was inspired by the Battle at Wounded Knee in 1890, a massacre of the Sioux.
Post a comment
Submit your own

Similar Articles

Previous Next
Poetry
To a Brother Growing Up
By imperfection GOLD
Gilroy, California
imperfection GOLD, Gilroy, California
17 articles 9 photos 45 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Dream as though you&#039;ll live forever, live as though you&#039;ll die today.&quot;<br /> ~James Dean (1931-1955), American Motion Picture Actor, symbol of rebellion

View profile
Poetry
Motley Crue: I really hear you
By Arbys GOLD
Dobbs Ferry, New York
Arbys GOLD, Dobbs Ferry, New York
15 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
&quot;I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity.&quot;Edgar Allan Poe<br /> &quot;A dream doesn&#039;t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work. ~Colin Powell&quot; ~ Colin Powell<br /> &quot;Wisdom is not finally tested in the schools, Wisdom <br /> &quot;A poem is never finished, only abandoned.&quot;-Paul Valery

View profile
Poetry
The Voice
By BreLee SILVER
Sula, Montana
BreLee SILVER, Sula, Montana
7 articles 0 photos 0 comments
View profile
Poetry
Whisper
By Loki(norsegod) DIAMOND
Sapello, New Mexico
Loki(norsegod) DIAMOND, Sapello, New Mexico
62 articles 0 photos 2 comments
View profile
Poetry
A World of Problems
By Lost-In-Life GOLD
Whitby, Other
Lost-In-Life GOLD, Whitby, Other
11 articles 0 photos 299 comments

Favorite Quote:
It&#039;s never to late, if it weren&#039;t for the last minute many things would never get done!

View profile
Poetry
Sing it Out Loud
By Poe_poe SILVER
DeMotte, Indiana
Poe_poe SILVER, DeMotte, Indiana
7 articles 0 photos 0 comments
View profile

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 129 comments.

alayapoetgirl BRONZE said...
on Apr. 15 2010 at 9:54 pm
alayapoetgirl BRONZE, St. Louis, Missouri
4 articles 0 photos 92 comments

Favorite Quote:
Life is hard; but it&#039;s harder if you&#039;re stupid. -John Wayne

View profile
I enoyed this especially the last line "piercing through dreams". Amazing vocabulary, this is unbelievable. Decsription is wonderful. Check out my opinion essay on animal rights/vegetarianism...
KylieK GOLD said...
on Apr. 15 2010 at 8:26 pm
KylieK GOLD, Mt. Washington, Kentucky
11 articles 0 photos 270 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;To love is to surpass one&#039;s self.&quot;

View profile
wow, that was phenominal!
SOSaiXD PLATINUM said...
on Apr. 15 2010 at 7:25 pm
SOSaiXD PLATINUM, Oviedo, Florida
35 articles 1 photo 23 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Always believe that everything happens for a reason. If you give God long enough to prove His point, He will always blow you away.&quot;

View profile
Jah. Don't listen to them. If all they're going to do is put it down, then they don't deserve your time. I thought it was wonderfully thought out and unique. (:
thewriteidea DIAMOND said...
on Apr. 15 2010 at 6:34 pm
thewriteidea DIAMOND, Pleasanton, California
67 articles 0 photos 336 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Don&#039;t cry that it&#039;s over, smile because it has happened.&quot;

View profile
don't listen to anything mean people say about this poem. they're just jealous that they can't write half as well as you can. great job with this poem! it's one of my favorites.
Rhoswen BRONZE said...
on Apr. 15 2010 at 5:02 pm
Rhoswen BRONZE, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
2 articles 0 photos 8 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Is it dead?&quot;

View profile
I liked it.
writergirl13 GOLD said...
on Apr. 15 2010 at 2:58 pm
writergirl13 GOLD, Cherry Hill, New Jersey
11 articles 8 photos 261 comments

Favorite Quote:
All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusions is called a philosopher.<br /> Ambrose Bierce

View profile
I have a right to post what I want, and I happened to want to post a positive, encouraging message, because personally I actually liked it!!!! If you disagree, FINE!! You don't have to like every piece that you read, but you don't have to try to insult people who actually like someone else's work! And i've read a lot of pieces written in a similar style, and this one is actually pretty good!
kysh15 said...
on Mar. 24 2010 at 11:19 pm
kysh15, Edmonds, Washington
0 articles 0 photos 57 comments
View profile
this is such a powerful and moving piece. keep writing!
writergirl13 GOLD said...
on Mar. 24 2010 at 8:05 pm
writergirl13 GOLD, Cherry Hill, New Jersey
11 articles 8 photos 261 comments

Favorite Quote:
All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusions is called a philosopher.<br /> Ambrose Bierce

View profile
No!!!! This is not lame at all!!!! It's deep and it's meaningful! And I just want to say that it's incredible that a teen living a 120 years after the riots and crisis with the Sioux indians wrote this poem, and yet it sounds like it's from that time because it captures what happened so well! How is that lame??

Elise, please feel free to check out my work, I'd appreciate it. :)
MCRlover2011 BRONZE said...
on Mar. 24 2010 at 6:42 pm
MCRlover2011 BRONZE, Kemp, Texas
4 articles 2 photos 85 comments

Favorite Quote:
Be yourself, don&#039;t take any one&#039;s (ugh they keep editing this T_T) shit and never let them take you alive!!!- Gerard Way

View profile
eh, i woulda done something ya know... not lame...
DYLAN Sessions said...
on Mar. 24 2010 at 9:14 am
who is this
soccer4 said...
on Mar. 24 2010 at 9:11 am
that is very cool im from IN too i live in hamilton county!!!
DYLAN Sessinos said...
on Mar. 24 2010 at 9:08 am
this is the best poem ive ever seen
meyoubed:) said...
on Mar. 24 2010 at 9:03 am
this is the gayest thing ive ever heard booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NativeWriter GOLD said...
on Mar. 24 2010 at 9:02 am
NativeWriter GOLD, Santa Rosa, California
14 articles 0 photos 16 comments
View profile
One day our nation shall rise again and all scares left by these vial men shall be lifted and as long as we stay true to the great spirits of this world they will return just remember their souls live on
ColeK said...
on Mar. 2 2010 at 8:23 pm
ColeK, San Augstine, Texas
0 articles 0 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;We have doomed the Wolf not for what it is, but for what we have deliberately and mistakenly perceived it to be.. the mythologized epitome of a savage, ruthless killer.. which is, in reality no more than a reflexed images of ourselves.&quot; -Farley Mowat

View profile
this is a great poem
BMMSKN said...
on Mar. 2 2010 at 5:41 pm
THIS IS A GREAT POEM, LOVE IT! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!
bmmszw said...
on Mar. 2 2010 at 10:21 am
it was a great poem
bmmsta said...
on Mar. 2 2010 at 10:10 am
it sounded cool but i really didnt get it....but it was pretty cool
bmmsmb said...
on Mar. 2 2010 at 10:10 am
it was cool i liked it.
bmmseh said...
on Mar. 2 2010 at 9:36 am
I really, really, really liked this poem! Keep on writing!!!!!!