Lament

north dakota i’m worried about you
the companies you keep all these new friends north dakota
beyond the boom, beyond the precious resources
do you really think they care what becomes of you

north dakota you used to be the shy one
enchanted secret land loved by only a few north dakota

when i traveled away and told people i belonged to you north dakota
your name rolled awkwardly from their tongues
a mouth full of rocks, the name of a foreign country

north dakota you were the blushing wallflower
the natural beauty, nearly invisible, always on the periphery
north dakota the least visited state in the union

now everyone knows your name north dakota
the blogs and all the papers are talking about you even 60 minutes

i’m collecting your clippings north dakota
the pictures of you from space
the flares of natural gas in your northern corner
like an exploding supernova
a massive city where no city exists
a giant red blight upon the land

and those puncture wounds north dakota take care of yourself
the injection sites I’ve seen them on the maps
four thousand active wells one every two miles

all your indicators are up north dakota
eighteen billion barrels, some estimates say

more oil than we have water to extract
more oil than we have atmosphere to burn

north dakota you could run the table right now;
you could write your own ticket

so, how can i tell you this? north dakota, your politicians
are co-opted (or cowards or bought-out or honest and thwarted)
they’re lowering the tax rate for oil companies
they’re greasing the wheels that need no greasing
they’re practically giving the water away

north dakota dear sleeping beauty please, wake up
they have opened you up and said, come in take everything

what will become of your sacred places
what will become of the prairie dog
the wolf, the wild horses, the eagle
the meadowlark, the fox, the elk
the pronghorn sheep, the rare mountain lion
the roads, the air, the topsoil
your people, your people
what will become of the water

north dakota who will ever be able to live with you
once this is all over i’m speaking to you now
as one wildcat girl to another be careful north dakota