BREAKING: Construction of KXL Pump Station Shut Down in Oklahoma

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Earth First! Newswire

Eight lock down to construction equipment in largest action yet by the Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance.

from Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance

[UPDATE:Nine people have been arrested. You can donate to their bail fund athttp://gptarsandsresistance.org/donate/ and share this around. They managed to shut down the site until a volunteer firefighter reportedly injured one of the lockdowners, who is in the ambulance currently and whose injuries are unknown to us. Folks soonafter unlocked out of concerns for their safety.]

Seminole, OK – Early this morning, eight individuals blocked construction of a pump station for TransCanada’s controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline on Seminole land-by-treaty by locking on to equipment in the largest action yet by the Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance. The group took action today, physically halting the construction process, as a part of an effort to prevent the Great Plains from being poisoned by inherently…

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Kiowa Song

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Kiowa Song

I was taught to hold my tongue,
not show my emotions.
My wife is a Queen
to treasure and protect,
at all cost to keep happy.
Shower her with love and gifts
no matter what it is.
Sorry sweetheart that’s a Kiowa man
Now let me say this….
When your man asks what you like,
you’re supposed to say what you like.
It is an insult to him when you don’t.
Its part of the taking care,
making her happy.
Part of the relationship.
The husband agreement.

I will never fall away from you.
I will love you until I die.
You will be what I see and think of when I take my last breath.

I saw you in a dream,
I did not touch you.
I felt your heartbeat and we were one.
You are what makes me live.
My heart, the blood that flows through my veins,
the air I breathe.
You are so beautiful.

That’s what I am going to say now….
I promise to cherish and worship you first.
Then I will love you forever ever and ever and ever
until infinity stops. Infinity doesn’t stop.
That’s going to be my love for you.

© 2013 Melissa Fry Beasley, All Rights Reserved

This is most closely a translation from the original. It is also a compilation from personal letters.

___________________________

Tomorrow
(an Osage song)

I will forget
The sound of your voice
As you read to me,
The tightness and the way it catches
When you laugh hard.
That thick slur on your tongue when you drink,
Telling me you will love me forever.
Making me tell you again and again
That I am your wife.
That I would have your babies.

I cut my hair off in mourning.

© 2013 Melissa Fry Beasley, All Rights Reserved

When There Is No Other Way

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Mother - Melissa Fry

Mother – Melissa Fry

Claire Askew has been kind enough to feature my poem “When There Is No Other Way’ in her ONE NIGHT STANZAS here.

This week’s My Roots, here.

It has been such a horrific and devastating week for every Oklahoman. There has been so much loss. There is nothing to compare the landscape to but a war zone, much like our spirits. These storms hit at such an interesting time. With children happy to be finishing another school year. Looking forward to the summer break ahead. Parents busily making plans and arrangements for the same. None of us expecting what would be. One cannot help but realize and consider how short and precious life really is. How much time do we waste each day on worry, stress, things that would not matter if we weren’t promised tomorrow. We are not guaranteed a thing in this life, including anything beyond now. It should not require tragedy to jar or wake us from our self absorbed existences. There is always more we can be giving and doing for others. There is always another person who needs our love and help. A person reaching out, who needs someone. There is always somebody in need.

I am so touched and humbled by the strength and resilience, the way we are pulling together as a community to try and get everyone through this. To help people pick up and salvage the pieces we can and are able. To help to somehow go on from all this. To bring a bit of light and hope into such darkness. These are the very reasons I have always been proud to be an Okie. I have always known we have amazing people here. Truly GOOD people. It is my prayer that we learn from this and take away the wisdom that there is no time like the present. There is no other day than this, no other time than in this moment. To live, to love, to share, to laugh, to give, to cry, to help, to heal. To BE for another, for the people.

The storm’s victims will need long term care and assistance, we should not forget about them in the weeks, and months to come. We should also learn to practice gratitude for all the blessings we have in our lives, and learn to let go more of all the petty things we let interfere with our peace and happiness here. When I was little, (a long time ago, in the very old days lol) if we were sad, feeling sorry for ourselves we were taught to go do something for somebody else. It is hard to feel bad if you are making others feel better about things!
There are opportunities right now from making donations, to hands on labor. We can open our homes to a family that has no where to go. We can make prayers for all those involved and impacted. Those of us with skills, talents, or other creative resources can come up with even more ways to be useful. These are our sisters and brothers, these are our mothers and fathers, these are our friends and neighbors. There shouldn’t be anything we wouldn’t be willing to do huh?