Ode to Langston

Langston, we too, sing  Turtle Island.

We are the 574 Nations.

They want to hide us

In the past tense,

Yet we love,

And dream,

And are still here.

Today, now,

We are at the oval table

As our women lead.

Nobody can ever

Say to us,

“Natives lived, Natives ate, drank, led.”

We are present tense.

Because,

They will know what we’ve always known

And be humbled—

We, too, sing  Turtle Island.