This Is One World

This is one world.
We will sink or swim,
live or die,
together.
Any other story
is a lie.

ᎯᎠ ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᏌᏊ ᎡᏆ-ᎡᎶᎯ.
ᎢᏧᎳ ᎡᎳᏗ ᎢᎦᎵᏍᏙᏙᏎ
ᎠᎴ ᎠᏓᏬᏍᏙᏎ,
ᎠᎴᏂᏙᎣᏎ ᎠᎴ ᎠᏲᎱᎯᏍᏙᏎ,
ᎢᏧᎴ.
ᏂᎦ ᏐᎢ ᎧᏃᎮᎸᏍᎩ
ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎦᏰᎪᎩ.

Text © 2019 by Donald C. Traxler.

Tonight, as we are on the cusp of having received 54,000 visits to this poetry blog, there are a few things that I would like to share with you. The easy part is this: as you may have noticed, the Udugi language is becoming an inseparable part of my poetry. The same is true of my photography. Both are part of a multimedia product that is a reflection of myself. I didn't really plan it that way, but it is that way, and I think it will continue. I hope you like it, and I thank you all for your interest and encouragement.

Now for the hard part.

Tonight I was reading about a heroine of the uprising of the Warsaw Ghetto, along with various other stories of the Holocaust. It is a history that is not dead, but lives with us and haunts us. I read until the pain and horror were too much for me to take, and I had to turn away from it.

Which poet was it who wrote about "man's inhumanity to man?" Wordsworth, I think. But what was true in his time, in the early nineteenth century, was magnified in the early twentieth century, and it is absolutely no less true now. It raises many questions. We must ask them, and we must answer them.

What is our response to the evil that we see all around us? How will we confront it? Because we must. Otherwise, as MLK told us, we begin to die.

Let us defend, not only ourselves, but all of our sisters and brothers. In doing that, win or lose, we will save ourselves. Let us, then, be heroes.

Shalom Salaam Paz Pax Peace.

Text © 2019 by Donald C. Traxler. Photo: Fergus McCarthy

We Can Talk

We can talk
to anybody
in the world.
But do we have
something to say?

ᎢᏧᎳ ᏰᎵᏆᏎ ᎦᏬᏂᏍᎩ
ᎾᏂᎥᏉ ᏗᏜ
ᎡᏆ-ᎡᎶᎯ ᎭᏫᎾ.
ᎠᏎᏃ ᎢᏧᎳ ᎤᎭᏎ
ᎪᎱᏍᏗᏁ ᎯᏁᎩ?

Text and image © 2019 by Donald C. Traxler

There Is Nature

There is nature,
pliable and true,
with million-year history,
and there are
hard-edged machines,
with no history at all.
Which world
will we choose
to live in?

ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎬᏩᎣ,
ᎠᎯᏛᎤᏬᎯᏳᏗ ᎠᎴ ᎤᏙᎯᏳ,
ᎢᏳᏆᏗᏅᏓ-ᏧᏕᏘᏴᏓ ᎧᏃᎮᏍᎩ ᎬᏙᏗ,
ᎠᎴ ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎠᏍᏓᏯ-ᎠᏍᏛᎢᏔ ᎪᏢᏅᏙᏗᏗ,
ᎠᎧᎵᏬᎯ ᎧᏃᎮᏍᎩ ᏄᏠᏯᏍᏛᎾ.
ᎦᏙ-ᎤᏍᏗ ᎡᏆ-ᎡᎶᎯ ᎭᏫᎾ
ᎢᏧᎳ ᎠᏑᏰᏍᏙᏎ ᎠᎴᏂᏙᎢ?

Text and image © 2019 by Donald C. Traxler.

Naked Wisdom 57

ᎠᏑᏴᏗ ᎤᏓᏔᏅᎯ ᎥᎿᎢ
ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎠᏲᎯᏍᏗ ᏥᏍᏆᏁ
Ꮎ ᎠᏰᏍᏛᏙᏎ ᎤᎦᏔᏁ.

ᎤᏬᏚ ᎠᎨᏯ ᎠᎴ ᎠᏍᎦᏯ ᎥᎿᎢ
ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎠᏰᏍᏛᏗ ᎤᎦᏔᏁ
ᎥᎴᏂᏙᎲ ᎥᎿᎢ.

ᎯᎠ ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎤᏬᏚ-ᏅᏃᎯ
ᎡᏆ-ᎠᏓᏅᏙ ᎥᎿᎢ.


The flavor of the berry
is to bring the bird
that will spread the seed.

The beauty of woman and
man is to spread the seed
of life.

This is the beauty way
of the Great Spirit.

Text and image © 2019 by Donald C. Traxler.

ᎤᏰᎸᎭ ᎠᎦᏙᎲᏍᏗ 57

ᎠᏑᏴᏗ ᎤᏓᏔᏅᎯ ᎥᎿᎢ
ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎠᏲᎯᏍᏗ ᏥᏍᏆᏁ
Ꮎ ᎠᏰᏍᏛᏙᏎ ᎤᎦᏔᏁ.

ᎤᏬᏚ ᎠᎨᏯ ᎠᎴ ᎠᏍᎦᏯ ᎥᎿᎢ
ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎠᏰᏍᏛᏗ ᎤᎦᏔᏁ
ᎥᎴᏂᏙᎲ ᎥᎿᎢ.

ᎯᎠ ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎤᏬᏚ-ᏅᏃᎯ
ᎡᏆ-ᎠᏓᏅᏙ ᎥᎿᎢ.

It Will, One Day

It will, one day,
be my time to go.
Shall I then be
more than a memory?
And who is the "I"
that wants to know?

ᎨᏒᎣᏎ, ᏌᏊ ᎢᎦ,
ᎨᏒᎢ ᎠᏆ ᎢᎪᎯᏓ ᎠᎾᎩᏍᏗ.
ᎠᏯ ᏀᎢᏳᎢ ᎨᏒᎣᏎ
ᎤᎪᏕᏍᏗ ᏏᏅ ᎠᏅᏓᏗᏍᏗ?
ᎠᎴ ᎦᎪ ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎯᎠ "ᎠᏯ"
Ꮎ ᎠᏚᎳᏓᏎ ᎤᏅᏘ?

Text and image © 2019 by Donald C. Traxler