The Red Roads of Mother Earth
Are on the back of Turtle
Are played out in the dual sides of her life
And nurtured within the Creative hand of Man
These are the Sacred places of meaning
Which kept human respect as Earth's protection
These are shields which protect Spirit
The spirit of Turtle Island, the spirit of Duality
And the Spirit of Creative hand of man
Are connected to each other
And protected under Eagle's wing
But in the last age
They are bigger and more complex
Mother Earth is bound to Father Sun
But her protection is wearing thin
Living precariously in the grip of his heat
As she dances her turn
With Grandmother Moon circling
Her seasons change and her roots grow
But things are not as gentle as they once were
The Universe has changed and now
She hangs by Eagle's Talon
The two sides of life have changed
It is more than a day and a night
More than shadow and the light
More than a dividing seedling
More than the physical and the spiritual
Or the Red and the Blue Roads meeting
It is a shield of Young and Old connecting
After breaking apart so many years ago
The linking of Culture back into family
Into the Creative Hand of man
Becomes a Red Road that protects Turtle
The Creative Hand Shield had grown
Continued from the original ones
Which began in the oneness of human beings
In the great hoop of peace with the Mind
Where the hoops of the eyes saw stories
And created visions in the intellect
Where the hoop of the mouth had songs
For the ears of the Sacred Ones
Where the hoop of the hand had Creations
Spawning another world of beauty
In paint and carving, bead and quill to see and touch
And take into the mind another story another song
Sewing meaning into the heart
Where the Hoop of the feet came the Dance
And balance on a Buffalo was all
Known in the four ages as the four legs of life
With the responsibility of each step
Came the dance within the hoop of life
To see that all of these each one continue
Saw the many Hoops of Creations
Clasped in Eagle's other talon
And this Dance of Creation was different
From Mother Earth's original dance on Turtle's Back
For this one was created
To mend what was broken
And to teach what could not be spoken
Through Creations of the hand
Through the Duality of Life
Each Shield is related to the other one
Where the young are related to Creation
Through their age
And the old are connected to Creation
Through their culture
And the Young are connected to Creation
Through their hand
And the old are linked to Creation
Through the land
And Creation is linked together
Through the spirit that unites hand to land
For Turtle to continue and mend and heal
She is dependant on the duality of life
Where the young must connect to the old
To learn the teachings of Turtle's heart
For the teachings to connect to the next heart beat
Where respect for all Life is learned
And living healthy is earned
The teachings are dependant on the artists
To translate them into images
As a universal tongue that all can understand
And render into hearts and evolve into minds
Remembering when the first hoop of love
Was broken so long ago
The one of the human heart
The duality of life has given us two hands
The Creative hand can mend the hoop of the world
As all know what the other hand of man has done
And it is staying on the Red Road
Where we can join the hoop as one
LauraLee K. Harris
