I am a North American Lakota Indian and live on the edge of the Great Plains, where the prairie joins with tall grasslands and where wide valleys and dense woodlands can be found. I was born in the shadow of the Black Hills, a sacred place for my people and those of our kind. We were a part of nature and moved with ease across the land. All life was precious and we believed in the love of the Great Spirit. We honoured our Mother the Earth and loved her creatures as brothers. We looked to the rivers with the same respect that we had for the land and we tried to treat all men as equal, for all things are connected. We knew the flame which burns within is the true person whom we are and how our bodies only exist, while we walk on this Earth-plane. Our spirit is the part which journeys on. It can never die and has travelled through many lives, in many shapes and forms . . . and now moves in this being which is I. My story is one which you may care to read - a story of those who lived long ago. Our people knew well of the Natural Laws and followed the teachings passed down through Tribal Elders, who openly shared their knowledge of life here and beyond. I am, I have been - and I always will be. When my earth body dies my spirit will again fly free and one day will hopefully be able to revisit this world, to talk with those of like-minds. I am the Spirit within. I am the part of you that can touch the stars and tread the ocean, feel the silence and speak the thought, without me - all is nought. I am the Spirit within. Inspirational Story and Verse from "Just Poems"