Thanksgiving In North Dakota

by Lou Marin

They are dancing today
Here in his people’s homeland.
A brave young man from Mandaree,
Nathan Goodiron
Knew his destiny lay across the sea.
Standing tall, he signed to fight,
Guard Unit 188th Artillery.
In a place called Iraq he fell,
Valiant to the end they say.
In the frozen grass they dance,
North Dakota snow on the ground,
Giving way to ice beneath their shuffling feet.

It is a solemn tribute they say,
Now nearing the close of its first day.

North Dakota’s frosty moon slowly rises
Overhead illuminating The People,
Round the drum they sit,
Thudding on it’s stretched leather head.
Heart’s saddened by the memory of a brave man now dead.

Do you remember all the brave fallen
Americans who stood to fight beside white brothers?
Kiowa, Blackfoot, Hidatsu, Mohawk, Cherokee,
Ottawa, Cree, Ute, and Pawnee,
Two more days the drums will beat as the Powwow,
An ancient tradition commemorates a soul set free.

_____________________________________

Lou Marin, a Christian grateful for Jesus’ gift to him, was born and raised in the western hills of Maine, then spent 20 plus years wandering the country and world in the United States Air Force. Maine Department of American Legion’s Historian, he is a photographer and stringer for The Maine Trust for Local News, published poet and short story writer who pens faith based devotionals. He lives in Rumford, Maine. He is author of an anthology of poems based upon his military career entitled “Dimly Seen Through The Mists,” and a book of faith based poems entitled “My Lighthouse In Troubled Times,” available through Pen It! Publications.

Lou can be reached at mbsphotog@yahoo.com or his Facebook Page.

As the Voice of the Veteran Community, The Havok Journal seeks to publish a variety of perspectives on a number of sensitive subjects. Unless specifically noted otherwise, nothing we publish is an official point of view of The Havok Journal or any part of the U.S. government.