Happy Indigenous People’s Day
Ode to the Keeper of the Plains
The Keeper of the Plains is located in Wichita, Kansas. It’s a beautiful monument built in 1974. It stands 44 feet tall on the banks where the Big and Little Arkansas Rivers meet. The statue stands on scared ground native to the Indians of the region.
The Keeper’s presence signifies that of a warrior who will always connect with his people.
I visited the Keeper last year. The Keeper used to just stand on the river. There was nothing around it to see. Now it has become a local tourist attraction. The Keeper is even more beautiful at night. At around dusk, the lit fire posts surrounding it are lit. They call it the Ring of Fire. It stays lit for 15 minutes before it burns out. The Keeper of the Plains is a wonderful sight to behold.
I wrote a poem about the experience. Please read it below.
Indian Echoes
The Holy Ghost is calling him now.
His presence echoes from the prairie to the central sky.
He’s resurrected from the confluence of the big and little rivers.
He echoes through fluid brown rains.
I did my own pow wow on the hallowed grounds.
I saw my redemptive spirit in the distance.
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Many Southern Kansas Indians of old danced there,
Along with the earth that revived them,
At the statue overlooking the river sands.
Because it was just land. Their land.
His echo delivered them from the sins of their forefathers.
His Rings of Fire whispers beneath my feet at moonlight.
He is calling me.
The Keeper Of The Plains.
The Keeper stands in steel, in the stillness of the wind.
His mind is on his past and civic Indian pride.
He rests on a rock on the historic native countryside.
I hear you.
I don’t fear you.
Your spirit is alive.
