From War Cry on a Prayer Feather, 1979, by Nancy Wood
I am two pieces of a whole split
For the sake of convenience into
What is perceived as obsolete and
What is proposed as advantage.
I am divided between a world I never knew
Yet believe to be a fruitful existence
And a world I know through experience is
A world which endangers the species.
I am caught between a sensible decision
And the vagueness of affirmation.
What affirmation amidst decay?
What possibility lies within
Impersonal reports of catastrophes
Internal reports of committees set up
For the conversion of natural law
Into a formula for easy dominion?
I am the convergence of illusion and delusion
Holding me to a thin line of stamina
While I become content with less
While growing less content with more.