10th Grade Humanities
To Stay or to Leave
One tension that applies to the american west in this poem is embodied in Charles Eastman of the Lakota Sioux, who was sent to a white boarding school. He went on to adopt traditional western culture but felt like an outcast in both societies. He also felt opposing pressure from each side and had to try to make a decision between benefiting one or the other, hence being pulled from both sides.
Another tension that I focussed on is the tension between the Lakota Sioux, and the US government. The government was attempting to buy/force the sioux off of their land. Overall, this poem shows the tensions between leaving and staying.
To stay or to leave,
Like a game of tug a war and you're the rope
The whole world is in a suitcase
Smoke and mirrors have the people in fear
Backward apologies make it too bright to see,
We move drunkenly in the lonesome expansion.
American glamor we pity the dirty
Ageless crooks with banks and books
Our hunt for prophet is scarring our heritage
An enormous game of dominoes and it's all falling down
A comatose generation with parasitic behavior.
Foreign billionaires with open arms,
Like a flytrap doubtlessly violent,
Homelands contaminated with greed,
Foggy formed men amputating freedom,
Daytime serenity hiding the actuality of our condemned.
Generals knowingly endorsing war,
Hollow people created by a cynical society,
Wicked fugitives thieving authority.
The innocent caught in the crossfire
Unsure are the people whose hospitality is greeted with hostility
Your land now belongs to me,
Unjust destruction of entire societies,
Like a building collapsing, a horrible tragedy.
Hopelessly useless against all divinity,
Amoral leaders waging war on the innocent,
Reservations are graveyards,
Here lies the pride of a once proud people.
One tension that applies to the american west in this poem is embodied in Charles Eastman of the Lakota Sioux, who was sent to a white boarding school. He went on to adopt traditional western culture but felt like an outcast in both societies. He also felt opposing pressure from each side and had to try to make a decision between benefiting one or the other, hence being pulled from both sides.
Another tension that I focussed on is the tension between the Lakota Sioux, and the US government. The government was attempting to buy/force the sioux off of their land. Overall, this poem shows the tensions between leaving and staying.
To stay or to leave,
Like a game of tug a war and you're the rope
The whole world is in a suitcase
Smoke and mirrors have the people in fear
Backward apologies make it too bright to see,
We move drunkenly in the lonesome expansion.
American glamor we pity the dirty
Ageless crooks with banks and books
Our hunt for prophet is scarring our heritage
An enormous game of dominoes and it's all falling down
A comatose generation with parasitic behavior.
Foreign billionaires with open arms,
Like a flytrap doubtlessly violent,
Homelands contaminated with greed,
Foggy formed men amputating freedom,
Daytime serenity hiding the actuality of our condemned.
Generals knowingly endorsing war,
Hollow people created by a cynical society,
Wicked fugitives thieving authority.
The innocent caught in the crossfire
Unsure are the people whose hospitality is greeted with hostility
Your land now belongs to me,
Unjust destruction of entire societies,
Like a building collapsing, a horrible tragedy.
Hopelessly useless against all divinity,
Amoral leaders waging war on the innocent,
Reservations are graveyards,
Here lies the pride of a once proud people.