Sitting Bull

On a Saturday afternoon
your great grandson speaks
and we listen,
young and old
we mostly white
maybe 30 in number,
listen.
And we see and hear
your dignity,
your royalty,
your genes
in your great grandson's
gentle voice.
We listen enthralled
as he speaks of the
Great Spirits
and your people's
creation story:
the great flood
and his culture,
your culture,
with love of the land
and respect for all living beings,
but especially the buffalo.
And in the back of the room
a teenage boy,
from a different tribe,
proud to see an elder
given such respect
knows that he has
touched the soul of Sitting Bull
and maybe
the Great Spirit
deep within
all the tribes.

Today
Sitting Bull smiles
for his great grandson
has shared the heart
and wisdom of a Lakota Chief.

*In honor of Mr. Ernie LaPointe,
great grandson of Sitting Bull