Wednesday, 16 December 2020

There is a Fire Burning

 

There are women in Ecuador,

In the heart of the Amazon,

Keeping a fire burning, 

At the heart of the Earth.


Firekeepers for the Condor, 

The Quetzal and the Eagle,

Indigenous women tending the fire,

Colectiva Awana global firekeepers.

 

Ancient Indigenous Wisdom is united,

Fulfilling the prophecies from long ago,

Meeting face to face, sharing ceremony,

Sharing hearts joined by the fire.

 

It is time, it is the time for unity.

It is time, it is the time for harmony.

It is time, it is the time for peace.

It is time, it is the time for healing.

 

We walk on this sacred land, our Mother,

Pachamama, Akikwe, Mother Earth.

We her children come together,

Our hearts burning like the fire.

 

I listen for my Ancestors’ voices.

They lost their way so long ago.

Perpetrating great harm, their fear and

Greed have brought this destruction.

 

Forgive us, they cry.  We had no idea

That it would come to this.

Please bring healing to this suffering,

Please bring balance and love.

 

Join with those that we wounded.

Make peace and we will be at peace.

Support their dreams, have their backs

Listen and learn from them.

 

We have your back, we support you.

It is your time now to bring this healing

And to bring our apologies.

Please say that we are sorry.

 

I come from thousands of years of

Bloodshed, domination and surrender.

Culture after culture wiped out, assimilated

Appropriated and yet some still remain.

 

The trees, the trees hold the knowledge.

My ancestors were their students.

Does this knowledge still live within me?

Can it be retrieved, called up?

 

Is Earth still speaking to me,

Daughter of those who forgot?

Can the colonizers stop and listen?

Can they be brought to stillness?

 

And learn to listen,

Listen to the Indigenous peoples,

Listen to the land, the trees,

Listen to all of life.

 

I listen for my Ancestors.

I remember the crimes.

I remember the wisdom.

And I hold out my hands.

 

My open hands offering,

My open hands ready,

My open hands receiving,

The work that is mine.

 

 

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