Oct 1, 2018 - Too Few by Mark K Tilsen

I have seen the future
And I will tell them I tried
we fought against the evil of the world with a piece of steel and duct tape
Tried to avert the apocalypse
with songs and a prayer
And we stopped them for an hour, a day, weeks and months
Before the great fires roared over everything
Before the storms leveling cities,
The street fights and water wars
I stood with women and men
Some who had no gender
or who’s gender changed throughout the day
Some of us broken people
unable to fit into society
Some rejected by it
Some that society just wanted us dead
Warriors
The bravest people I have ever known
I will look into the eyes of my nieces and nephews,
their children and grand children
when they ask me what I did before The Fall
I tried to tell everyone what was coming
But they already knew
These people wanted hope
And I have none to give
I will show you fear
In a handful of dust
The end of Nations
In one glass of water
One drop of benzene

My loved ones
We fought for you
So hard
We broke our bodies and our minds for you
In the mountains, in the jungles, in the rivers, the swamps and on the plains
We fought them for years
You are so beloved little ones
We did it for you
But I’m sorry
There wasn’t enough of us

– Too Few

Mark Tilsen is an Oglala Lakota poet and educator