Apache Tear – Apachenträne in German – is the name of a nodule of obsidian rock made of volcanic black glass. – The name “Apache tear” comes from an Apache tribe legend from the 1870’s.
Near the township of present day Superior, Arizona, around 75 Apaches and the US Cavalry engaged in a melee. The outnumbered Apache warriors faced imminent defeat – rather than be captured or allow the US Cavalry to pick them off they chose to ride their horses off the edge of the mountain. They did so, to their certain death. Upon hearing of this tragic turn of events, the families, wives and children of the Apache warriors shed tears that turned into obsidian stone upon hitting the ground – these stones are Apachentränes – the Apache Tears.
For my Mother Liliana Tademar…
The Mediating Stone…
“Tis better to die on your feet than to live forever on your knees” – Geronimo
The day of the sun has passed without a nod, God sleeps
Streets of Los Angeles are empty, the Cops are out
I drink a pint of coffee and watch as a bum weeps
Being ushered on by the uniformed tyrant shout
I am the mediating stone – a bond between runes
My stone is obsidian nature, I am the new moon
I am the arbitrary pebble – darkness at noon
My Apache tears are the soul’s wind over the dunes
The thunder giants hurl rocks from the sky eagerly
Hollywood stirs uneasily at the night queries
I walk the sidewalks dodging emptiness expertly
Mental calisthenics and a dozen Hail Mary’s
I am the mediating stone – a bond between times
My stone is ebonite nature, I am the dark tune
I am the illogical grain – nighttime when dawn chimes
Electrostatic embedded in the end too soon
The wealth possesses the rich bleeding their greedy minds
California is the end of the golden railroad
Those who come here are caught up in the cheapest of binds
Dreaming jackpots of success while they are bought and sold
I am the mediating stone – a bond between signs
My stone is black onyx – my nature a hidden breath
I am the capricious find – drop the sense of my lines
Discarding with abandon chance at valiant death
Men have only the rights that they can defend, and win
The stone is the night, the moon asks now for my pardon
I fall to my knees, shake a pathetic fist in sin
The mediating stone cracks, God wakes up “Get up son.”
March 19, 2012 – Konrad Tademar
Geronimo (Goyaałé, Goyathlay, Goyahkla “one who yawns) – was an Apache Warrior Chief, he was born near Turkey Creek in present day New Mexico on June 16, 1829 – and died on February 17, 1909 in Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
“In the beginning the world was covered with darkness. There was no sun, no day. The perpetual night had no moon or stars.” – Geronimo