Moon at Midnight – Part XXXVII (day 2011)

(part XXXVI)

Tall Pine and I kept following the tracks
Until we could hear them laughing
Off in the distance
We had the advantage of being silent
Without horses
So we easily snuck up on the bastards
We counted three
And waited until we saw the other two
We knew we had been following five horses.

When they returned
Pine and I had already made a plan
He was good with the arrow
And I had two tomahawks in my hands
They were against a few large boulders
Beside a creek that had a shallow pool
Eating the meat that we had been smoking
And having a gay old time
He assured me he could have three down
Before I jumped
There was another boulder to the left of the group
That he was able to get beside
And also use as a shield
He had eight arrows.

He watched carefully as I silently
Made my way up behind the group
Clearly oblivious to anybody following them
As Pine began sending his arrows into their chests
I jumped on one who was lazily falling asleep
When I turned around two were looking at me
Fumbling to get their guns
And a third had his trousers down
Caught red handed and frozen
Lucky for me,
When the first one fired his gun
It only clicked
I guess he hadn’t reloaded since raiding our village.

With my first swing his hand was gone
The second swing was into his neck
As I swung around
I planted my tomahawk into the seconds head
And ripped my axe from the firsts neck
Pine had taken down the third
Who had his trousers down
Still just standing there unable to move
The horses spooked
But stayed close being tied up
I went over to the first Pine had hit
And made sure he wasn’t still breathing.

The woman was clearly distressed
But recognized me
She sat there, weeping silently
As Pine came up beside me
He gathered the horses
And asked what we would do with them
I told him to remove the saddles
And we will take them with us
But we will walk for now
He tied them halter to tail.

I brought the woman to the creek
To wash her face
I washed the blood from my hands
And cleaned my axes
I tied the guns onto one of the horses
And we began walking back at a fairly fast pace
Still on alert should we have missed anybody.

part XXXVIII

Moon at Midnight – Part XXXVI (day 2010)

(part XXXV)

One of our favorite places to go
To the South, about two hours
We had found the lookout after wandering
For medicinal herbs one summer day
We didn’t hear anything as we walked up
And we didn’t hear anything from where we sat
But looking out, we watched an abnormal amount
Of smoking coming from our village.

I trotted ahead cautiously
Keeping my eyes on alert
And my hatchet in my hand
As I got closer
I flanked our village on the West
And came across a few of the children
To afraid to move, watching
Most of the teepees had been knocked over
As well as the smoke houses
The men had left two days ago
On a hunting party West
Into the deeper forest and mountains
And weren’t expected for a few more days
So it was mostly women and children left.

It was hard to know who had done this
There were clear signs of horses
Often with missing shoes
Which could mean a band of renegades
Most Army men kept their horses happy
And any Tribe I ever came across
Didn’t shoe their horses
They had come from the North
I could see that clear enough.

There was very little movement or sound
Coming from our small village
Except the smouldering smoke
So I walked into the encampment
On high alert
Listening and watching
I found one woman who had been badly hurt
I asked her where did they go,
She pointed West
I came across two killed
No doubt in my mind a few had been taken
A few of the elders had holes through their chests
My guess was five god damn renegades
Chicken shit bastards
With loaded guns and fire on their breath.

I went back to the young scouts I had come across
And told them Willow and Lily were coming
Where I had just come from
I made it known they should go that way now
And intercept them before they got here
And direct them into the Woods
To the East side of the Waterfall
Where the big fir had fallen over
I took the eldest with me
He had his bow and arrows
As we scanned the village.

I heard from one of the teepees some noise
And looked inside
One of the bastards was on a woman
And I buried my hatchet into his head
I told her to keep quiet
And where we were meeting at, to go to
She grabbed a few tools and snuck away.

There were no others
I could only guess the one I had killed
Was reaping the benefits
Of the renegades he was following
For he didn’t look like much of anything
Nor worth keeping any kind of company
I followed the ones who had left
Horse tracks to the West
For fifteen minutes
And didn’t come upon them
When I reached the creek
I saw they had crossed and kept going
Deeper West, moving fast
I hoped that the men would come upon them
And see any women or children that had been taken
They would know what had happened at once
And do what had to be done.

part XXXVII

Bastards of the Sea (day 363)

Lazily I wander around the busy streets
Staring in the eye the man with no feet
I understand that I’m not the only one
With the last of my kind waved goodbye long ago
Perhaps I’ll meet again
With the uninterrupted bastards of the sea
The regular people
Dangling with toes getting cold
Legs running out of peace and happiness
Mind settling into my eyes of change
Distraction falling into the bottle
Memories flashing into the eye
And I, with my hands of change
Wander further into the day

Nobbin (day 360)

Parables
Floating through the air
Fishing out the last
Remains of indiscriminate bastards
Fuck the loose mentality
That we’re all ok
Fuck the smart girl
She has never worn dignity
Like the whore walking Main

Swim the mighty canal
Float the gnarly seas
Figure the angels wings
As they cloud your sober mind
Unlike the hairy bastard
Who prances around like the fool
Fuck the merry longfellow
When he turns around to glance a blow

Then the tulips that have been stolen
From the figured lands of the holy
They’ve been tainted like a bastards tongue
Of the King’s royal litter
But the holy men that haven’t kissed me
Shall linger by their pole
The wine toting maidens
Shall throw eyes my way once more

It’s business as usual
Down at the Hawley; torn and blown
I’m not here to pull on your
Thunder you’ve bloated with
I’m not going to steal what matters
To your lambs and whithered tongues
I’ve left your silly buggers
To dance your awkward dance

So hug your merry bastards
Lay your fingers down
I’ve left your countenance long
I’ve let you pull your fingers as you may
Don’t whip your hair
Your greasy hair
I’ve worn your stripes
I’ve calmed your mare

Nobbin, bloody nobbin