Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AN OLD SIOUX IN THE CITY by WILL CHAMBERLAIN

First Line: HE SEEMS A SUNBURNT PAGE RIPPED OUT
Last Line: WHERE AGES SAY—A GUN.
Subject(s): MEMORY; OLD AGE; SOLDIERS; WAR;
He seems a sunburnt page ripped out
From sign scrawled prairie lore,
Although he's lost his primal clout
And bought things in a store.

Still moccasined, he scrapes along
The sidewalk randomly.
He'd be more noble with his song
Of war-trails echoing free.

I see him pause. His sunken eyes
Peer through a plated glass.
Gowns—prairie fire! Big surprise!
I sniff. He smells of grass.

O men of learning! What a job
Of up-lift here is done.
You thought to stir a deathless throb
Where ages say—a gun.



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