palavering

"Council of "Indian" Chiefs and Gen. William T. Sherman and commissioners
at Ft. Laramie, Wyo. ca. 1867-68".

Palavering

palaver  a talk between tribespeople
and traders   who bring words
in exchange for understanding
random acts (of kindness) not the other
which further the rift...split and halve
the peace...fleeced so easily by the greedy
who don't deserve mention..but they're
always there..in the shadows gathering
new ways to twist and lie..it's a game
for them..they do it well because they can
so easily


palaver  a talk between tribespeople and
most folk who are born good..and shouldn't
they be? they're innocents...it's that palavering
- esa platica - they hear from the cradle..that starts
the poison pin pricking them into thinking that
this one or that is bad because of the color
of their skin..or the size of their bank account
which amounts to nothing on the grand scale of
things..but it's what we are taught to use
to measure up people..those lenses to see in
the blindness of bigotry..unless we set our sight free
by looking beyond


palaver  a talk between tribespeople and
strangers..who may appear to be dangerous
at first glance but given the chance may
turn out to be allies to embrace and together
chase out those shadows of doubt  though
history has taught us trust is troublesome
when zealously thrust upon the wrong
persons or situations..just because
we'd like to believe they are true  and
then..there are still all those treaties
to think about



© Odilia Galván Rodríguez, 2008