American Woman
By Marti Doyle-Steed
3/27/2007
We didn’t feel poor while growing up;
But I knew I wasn’t drinking from a silver cup.
We ate rabbit, partridge, pheasant and quail.
We ate so much venison Dad could have landed in jail.
I helped cut the fish in the back garage.
I dressed like a boy and they called me little Rodg.
****I’m an Irish, English, French & German
Sepasco, Mohawk, American Woman
Dad said that we’re related to the Earth, Sun, Wind and Water,
We are all Mother Natures Son’s and Daughters.
Hunting, Fishing, Trapping and such,
Are just hobbies today they don’t matter much.
To live off the land might mean killing and plunder;
But how does that compare to today’s wars I WONDER.
Don’t wear your furs; you’ll be hit by some paint
Tell folks you eat wild game and they’re liable to faint.
Each year we wore deerskin gloves and tanned moccasins;
But to admit you had Indian blood was the worst kind of sin.
When I learned the truth I was nearly forty
Dad was finally free to tell us his story.
Dad’s Mother had died, the reason he lied.
Claiming your true blood could now bring some pride.
To be just part Indian had been reason for shame,
They had all been afraid of the prejudice, finger pointing and blame.
There was light in Dad’s eyes and a smile on his face,
He was finally allowed to take his rightful place.
****
Mom taught us how to cook and to keep the house clean;
She washed clothes by hand without a machine.
She was tall and beautiful with long chestnut brown hair;
She held us and rocked us ‘till we didn’t have a care.
We had homemade bread and tea with milk and honey
Sugar on fruit slices was our candy; we didn’t have much money.
Mom was always our best friend
It was that way until the very end.
We would play and we’d laugh till the tears stained our faces.
She taught us our manners, to curl our hair, go to church and to say grace.
Education was a privilege, our daily job with rewards
There was never any choice we had to go forward.
****
When Martin Luther King preached non-violent change
We were all there with him, his ideas weren’t strange.
But I went to Birmingham some years later
Where the ghosts of freedom walk behind the folks that still hate there.
I’ve been marching for peace since Viet Nam
Though I’d kill for my children and still protest the bomb.
A fierce fighter for Women’s Rights
I’ve stood outside Family Planning, not afraid of a fight.
Rowe Vs. Wade gave women the right to choose,
Today the President wants those rights women to loose.
I still like my door held open for me;
But not at the expense of my right to be
****
I’ve been blessed with 2 children; a boy and a girl;
They’ve grown up so fast my minds in a whirl.
I love them, miss them, and rejoice when I see them.
The young years were good years; I knew where they were then.
And now that they’re older and out on their own
My husband and I now have time alone in our home.
Sisters and brothers should always watch out for each other
You know what to do; you were taught by your Mothers.
Hold hands together, see your doctor each year
Because, some day you might hear; you have Cancer My Dear!
But you’ll be alright
You know how to fight!
You're an Irish, English, French and German, Sepasco, Mohawk American Woman!
So I cut my hair short and free
That "Big Texas Hair" no longer mattered to me.
Radiation and Chemo, the words we all hate,
Now a part of the everyday; you can't predict fate.
My angels surround me, they carry me high,
We're with you they whisper, we'll teach you to fly........
The sun shines more brightly now, its warmth colors my face.
All of our parents have passed on and nothing can take their place;
But their strength it supports us, their pride it beseeches you and me;
To rise above our trials and be all that we can be.......
My sisters now too are fighting this fight,
Finding a cancer cure in this generation would surely be right..
We're Asian, African, European, North American, South American, Australian, Indian, Americans Women!
I wrote this poem a few years back after I had finished radiation treatments for Breast Cancer. Who knew then that today my two sisters would be battling Breast Cancer as well. But they will be alright, they know how to fight............
