Uncivilized, uncouth, the wild men
run aimlessly through the bush;
the dark skinned, the lazy, the near naked beasts
barely human;
the sloth, the heathen, the devourer, the mere hunter-gatherer,
the precursor, the dwindling line, the mistake,
the demon, the inbred, the buffoon, the dead;
many dead
slayed with bullet and germ, houses to burn,
livelihood to ruin, women to rape, children to take.
The Sacred Land
stolen;
survivors watch
as civilized newcomers do untold damage
to a land the darkies had known for more years
than the well-bred had ever known their ancestral homes.
An unfenced land,
free of war.
An adjusted land;
well worn, hitched when necessary,
cleaned and set aside regularly,
taken care off the way the civilized man
takes care of his favourite shirt.
