Oklahoma

This is what I think Oklahoma would sound like as a song. Just my opinion. Oklahoma seized in 1803 the Louisiana Purchase did decree First called the Indian Territories set aside for over 30 displaced tribes The Sooner State name was gained by many eager land grabs For 30,000 years or more people lived in harmony with the land in the 1500s the search for gold disrupted nature and changed the lives indigenous people slaughtered, homes stolen. Spaniards left their destruction behind. Later the French came to trade with Wichita, Pawnee and more. Yet no settling did they undertake Then came the purchase and everything changed. Jefferson decided how the land should be used and he made it a reservation. Tears wrote the trail where many died Seminole to Cherokee tribes were moved from Alabama and North Carolina's green land, to crowded lots to await starvation and death Forced to live side by side with strangers nomads chained in place. Only when the settlers they mimicked were they seen as civilized then to add insult to injury told to apply for citizenship where they could receive a parcel of land. If they didn't apply they were evicted The lies told over and over again no wonder this land does not rest With government backing or legislation all land was opened up to the settlers just over 100 years ago it joined the union when its native identity was surrendered So it goes on repeating, will we never learn? 13 of 20 black towns remain after being set free they were hunted after starting businesses and building homes they were torn down, burned and killed and tortured in police cells Cattle ranchers destroyed grassland Drought removed soil from the over farmed, the over grazed dust bowl grew for ten years the land fought back Steinbeck wrote the Grapes of Wrath to remind us of all our mistakes. Nature still fights back hard '74, 5 tornadoes struck the city. Between 1890 and 2010 almost 150 more. The dust bowl continues to grow severe drought forecasts every year now. Nature brings earthquakes, wildfires and floods I think it's sending us a message It's time to leave this land alone let it heal, let it grow, let it be Return to innocence and harmony