| Just
yesterday I saw you
Standing alone
Icicles forming a crystal beard under your wooly chin Your
breath came in ragged gasps
As
you stood, head down, feet spread wide, exhausted,
at the top of a steep incline,
The gray night was coming on fast
The men had turned on the headlights of their snowmobiles
The noise of which blasted through the cold still air
Like fingernails on a chalkboard in an empty room
They came in a circle around you,
I could hear them yelling, whooping and cursing, and something
else,
was it laughter???
They came to within 50 feet of you
As you stood stock still, sides heaving
An icy cloud of breath coming out of your nostrils,
You faced them, head on, you knew the fight was over
They had cut you off from your herd
And chased you down to the point of exhaustion,
Just for sport
And then, there you were, an innocent victim, guilty,
Your crime?
Just being you, a big wild buffalo, walking on ground
That had been yours for thousands of years,
Only now it wasn't yours anymore
It belonged to the Public Porkbellies
And was being used to fatten their cattle, and subsequently,
Their pocketbooks
But you didn't know any of this
You only wanted to eat some wild herbs that day, just yesterday,
You wanted to begin rebuilding your strength
After an unusually long, cold and hungry winter
And you trod lightly on the soil that day
Not harming anyone or anything, not even their precious cattle,
But still the men came on their noisy machines
Before you realized it, they had come between you and the
rest of your herd
And the chase was on, it went on for hours,
Well into the dusky twilightÉwhen you came to an exhausted
standstill
Unable to run any more
One of the men, a big burly man in thick winter clothes
Pulled out his rifle,
Squared you up in his sight, and as you looked death head
on,
He shot you right between your deep brown eyes,
You fell heavy and quick, of that I was grateful, as I watched
helplessly, unseen,
I got a few pictures, but who will I show?
Who will stand up?
Who really cares what happened to you that day?
I care, and I'll stand up I'll speak for you,
I'll remember your brave stance
As you fought hard and lost
But then looked death bravely right in the eye,
As time stood still
Just
yesterday
-Anita Martin |
