Crimson

Crimson in defeat, they halted
Gathered lives and legacies in
___war-weathered hands and
pulled

Uprooted centuries where their names
___ were braided in the soil

Behind them the rattlesnake enjoined,
___ driving them on
___ across valley and stream,
___ across mountains and seas
___ to another shore
where,

Crimson
at home
___they began again

Crimson
at home
___they remained.