Inspired by a comment by Jon Michael Perry

The Great Spirit kept watch from above

As his children were gathered from their homes

Taken prisoner by an foreign invader

Made to walk the Trail of Tears hundreds of miles

Taken from their homes and lands

In the early winter

When cold and snow lay all around

The Great Spirit watched disguised as eagle, hawk, and owl

Many of his children were taken

To the Happy Hunting Ground

The stronger ones mourned their loss

The Trail of Tears became a river

And so that his children would never forget

The Great Spirit gathered all of the tears

Created lakes, ponds, streams, and rivers

Made the new land rich in water

Oklahoma, new land of the Great Spirit’s children,

Apache, Arapahoe, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Comanche, Creek,

Biloxi, Okmulgee, Pawnee, Seminole, Shawnee, Wyandotte,

And many more tribes of America

As you drive across Oklahoma

The amount of water is staggering

The Trail of Tears made as lakes, rivers, ponds, and streams

Created for his children by the Great Spirit.