|
|
|
|
Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Searching... Author: ALEXIE, SHERMAN Matches Found: 232 Alexie, Sherman Poet's Biography 232 poems available by this author 13/16: 1. First Line: I cut myself into sixteen equal pieces Last Line: Of can into sauce pan; e. Cook contents over high heat; f. Serve and eat 13/16: 2. First Line: It is done by blood, reservation mathematics, fractions Last Line: If found, please return to spokane tribe of indians, %wellpinit, wa 13/16: 3. First Line: The compromise is always made Last Line: All dark, his shovel-shaped incisor, each the same %ordinaryidentification of the anonymous 13/16: 4. First Line: When my father disappeared, we found him Last Line: Cans without labels-my father opened them %one by one, finding a story in each 22-NOV-83 First Line: We were doing laundry Last Line: Your father held me %against his thin chest %for twenty years whispering %'ain't no indian loves mar Subject(s): Popular Culture - United States AFTER THE FIRST LIGHTNING First Line: I will ask your permission Last Line: Approach, pass over %then move away AFTER THE TRIAL OF HAMLET, CHICAGO First Line: Did hamlet mean to kill polonius? Diane and I sit at a table Last Line: And which way we want to go. Home, we say, home AIRPLANE First Line: Up here, where no indian was ever meant to be Last Line: Just like this, wanting to bring everybody back home AIRPLANE, AIRPORT, AIRLINE, AIR IN THE BOTTOM OF THE NINTH First Line: Over albuquerque, we look down to see all Last Line: Open. She touches my face. I fall asleep. I dream about mitch williams and joe carter ALCOHOLIC LOVE POEMS: 1 First Line: Alcohol is a drum Last Line: It's so hard %not to dance ALCOHOLIC LOVE POEMS: 2 First Line: You told me once that the best sex we ever had was one winter night in february Last Line: Beer and that old lie about never drinking again ALCOHOLIC LOVE POEMS: 3 First Line: Is alcoholism genetic Last Line: Victim of science %and its necessary research ALCOHOLIC LOVE POEMS: 4 First Line: Sometimes, my hands shake Last Line: Will make me forget who I have become ALCOHOLIC LOVE POEMS: 5 First Line: The difference between need and want must be explained. I quit drinking 450 day Last Line: You that cap cost exactly the same as a bottle of thunderbird wine ALCOHOLIC LOVE POEMS: 6 First Line: Just moments after meeting Last Line: Oh, all my life %in the past tense ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS DANCE First Line: I haven't danced Last Line: All of us %terrified and amazed AMERICAN ARTIFICIAL LIMB COMPANY First Line: My sister, my phantom limb, I reach for her Last Line: In three different colors; white, black, and in-between.' AMERICAN CHAIRS First Line: In this country, we build the chair Subject(s): Chairs; God AMERICAN CHAIRS First Line: In this country, we build the chair Last Line: Lord, a chair is a chair is a chair. %lord, hear our prayer Subject(s): Chairs; God ANATOMY OF MUSHROOMS First Line: Now, after all of these years, I remember the woman, whom I loved Last Line: To search for water and room and roof and home APOLOGIES First Line: In his sleep, your father tears Last Line: Both of us love you %arrogantly and crazily, without apology ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATION First Line: The old indian man sitting next to him Last Line: It's all too much when trying to sleep %the lungs cannot hold all you have to swallow AT NAVAJO MONUMENT VALLEY TRIBAL SCHOOL Poem Text First Line: The football field rises Last Line: Wild horses, wild horses, wild horses Subject(s): Americans; Education; Schools; United States; Students; America AT NAVAJO MONUMENT VALLEY TRIBAL SCHOOL First Line: The football field rises Last Line: Wild horses, wild horses,wild horses Subject(s): Americans; Education; Schools; United States AT THE DIABETIC RIVER First Line: Salmon disappear %my father goes blind Last Line: O, the ghosts of my father's eyes BASKETBALL First Line: After a few beers here, every indian is a hero of 'unbroken horses.' Last Line: Shirt in my closet, another crazy horse dream without a skeleton %or skin BOB'S CONEY ISLAND First Line: Let's begin with this: america Last Line: Even if just in memory BREAKAWAY BAR #8 First Line: I have this aunt who's blind, junior tells me, she's really Last Line: Junior looks at me, he looks at the professor, and asks, really? %yes, he says, and all for the want BREAKAWAY BAR #9 First Line: Been on the wagon for a week, I tell the whole bar and the w Last Line: You walk into the breakaway bar %see another skin drinking and you want it all back again too BREAKING OUT THE SHOVEL First Line: Beginning somewhere near the reservation Last Line: And my story and your story, gathering %into our warmth, this heart changing by halves BUSINESS OF FANCYDANCING First Line: After driving all night, trying to reach Last Line: Something we can hold, in twenties, a dream we reach. %it's business: a fancydance to fill all the e CAPITAL PUNISHMENT First Line: I prepare the last meal Last Line: We were reduced to headlines and ash CEREMONIES First Line: Seymour and I steal the bartender's car and drive Last Line: For that missing part, the part that came out whole and bloodless, %but fills you up with how much I CLINE First Line: Before the old tribal school was condemned, I swear patsy cline used to sing af Last Line: Just like me. Just like you CRAZY HORSE DREAMS (1) First Line: She tried to stand close to him at the fry bread stand, but he moved from open Subject(s): Crazy Horse (oglala Sioux Chief) CRAZY HORSE DREAMS (1) First Line: She tried to stand close to him at the fry bread stand, but he moved from open Last Line: For hours, he watched the lights go on and off, on and %off.He wished he was crazy horse Subject(s): Crazy Horse (oglala Sioux Chief) CRAZY HORSE DREAMS (2) First Line: When the checks came in, seymour and I Subject(s): Crazy Horse (oglala Sioux Chief) CRAZY HORSE DREAMS (2) First Line: When the checks came in, seymour and I Last Line: And I counted the money, gave seymour the ten bucks %for his last stand, his last chance to be crazy Subject(s): Crazy Horse (oglala Sioux Chief) CRAZY HORSE SPEAKS: 1 Poem Text First Line: I discovered the evidence Last Line: He forgave me all my sins Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; United States - Race Relations; Custer, George Armstrong (1839-1876) CRAZY HORSE SPEAKS: 1 First Line: I discovered the evidence Last Line: He forgave all my sins Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; U.s. - Race Relations CRAZY HORSE SPEAKS: 2 Poem Text First Line: Little big horn / little big horn does not belong to me Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; United States - Race Relations; Custer, George Armstrong (1839-1876); Little Bighorn, Battle Of; Crazy Horse (oglala Sioux Chief) CRAZY HORSE SPEAKS: 2 First Line: Little big horn %little big horn does not belong to me Last Line: Survive - survive - survive Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; U.s. - Race Relations CRAZY HORSE SPEAKS: 3 Poem Text First Line: I wear the color of my skin Last Line: In this city where everyone / is afraid of horses? Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; Horses; Crazy Horse (oglala Sioux Chief) CRAZY HORSE SPEAKS: 3 First Line: I wear the color of my skin Last Line: In this city where everyone is %afraid-of-horses Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; U.s. - Race Relations CRAZY HORSE SPEAKS: 4 Poem Text First Line: There are places I cannot leave Last Line: The exact skin/ never the same home Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; United States - Race Relations; Sitting Bull (hunkpapa Sioux Chief); Crazy Horse (oglala Sioux Chief) CRAZY HORSE SPEAKS: 4 First Line: There are places I cannot leave Last Line: Never the same house Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; U.s. - Race Relations CRAZY HORSE SPEAKS: 5 Poem Text First Line: I am the mirror Last Line: It is the sound / of glass shattering Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; United States - Race Relations; Crazy Horse (oglala Sioux Chief) CRAZY HORSE SPEAKS: 5 First Line: I am the mirror Last Line: It is the sound %of glass shattering Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; U.s. - Race Relations CRAZY HORSE SPEAKS: 6 Poem Text First Line: I hear the verdict Last Line: Mortal and sinless Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; United States - Race Relations; Crazy Horse (oglala Sioux Chief) CRAZY HORSE SPEAKS: 6 First Line: I hear the verdict Last Line: Close to their chests %mortal and sinless Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; U.s. - Race Relations CRAZY HORSE SPEAKS: 7 Poem Text First Line: Whenever it all begins again Last Line: I will be waiting Subject(s): Etethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; United States - Race Relations; Crazy Horse (oglala Sioux Chief) CRAZY HORSE SPEAKS: 7 First Line: Whenever it all begins again Last Line: I will be waiting Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; U.s. - Race Relations CROW TESTAMENT First Line: Cain lifts crow, that heavy black bird Last Line: They already live near the end of the world DANGEROUS ASTRONOMY Poem Text First Line: I wanted to walk outside and praise the stars, Last Line: And thought I was more important than the stars Subject(s): Science; Scientists DEAD LETTER OFFICE First Line: I get a letter, written in my native tongue, but I don't understand Last Line: Brief letter from the past, finding she had never been here,she had %never gone DEATH OF THE LANDLORD First Line: My landlord died Last Line: This is not about my father DEFENDING WALT WHITMAN Poem Text First Line: Basketball is like this for young indian boys, all arms and legs Subject(s): Poetry & Poets; Whitman, Walt (1819-1891) DEFENDING WALT WHITMAN First Line: Basketball is like this for young indian boys, all arms and legs Last Line: Walt whitman shakes. This game belongs to him Subject(s): Poetry And Poets; Whitman, Walt (1819-1891) DIABETES First Line: Having learned sugar kills me Last Line: The bread contains is %what contains me DISTANCES First Line: I've been thinking about pain, how each of us constructs our past Last Line: I was in a bar, drinking a beer, because it was filling the glass, when %a stranger walked in DREAMING ANNA MAE First Line: I choose to dream of you Last Line: To keep all of our dreams %crowded and haunted %as we travel together %into the next DRUM AS LOVE, FEAR, AND PRAYER First Line: Drums %make everyone feel Last Line: How much I believe %in her, in her ELEGIES First Line: This is a poem for people who died in stupid ways Last Line: Better as we drive down the highway toward a different kind of moon EUGENE BOYD DON'T DRINK HERE ANYMORE First Line: The stranger walks into the bar, orders a beer, and asks me where Last Line: After that the professor, at the end of the bar, tips his beer and says, %that was some serious fuck EVOLUTION First Line: Buffalo bill opens a pawn shop on the reservation Last Line: Calls his venture the museum of native american cultures %charges the indians five bucks a head to e EXAGGERATION OF DESPAIR First Line: I open the door Last Line: And invite the wind inside FAITH First Line: This is not the river we were promised Last Line: Sister, I believe in smoke FATHER AND FARTHER First Line: In mcneil island prison for bad checks, my father worked to pay Last Line: Looked at my father. He held me tightly. He told me to hold on FATHER AND SON ROAD SHOW First Line: The doctor tells me my father's story Last Line: As father and father-son separate, %loose, broken, dissolved by dialysis FATHER COMING HOME First Line: Then father coming home from work. Me, waiting on Last Line: Ing, always ready to fall. Me, holding onto father with all my strength FAUSTO POEMS: 1. First Line: Talk story, he said Last Line: He said, talk story FAUSTO POEMS: 10. First Line: He left school in the middle Last Line: Looking for his face %in the crowd, his hands large %and torn, fisherman's hands FAUSTO POEMS: 11. First Line: Then, this letter from kentucky Last Line: He writes, I make everything work %so everyone can fly again FAUSTO POEMS: 2. First Line: He said, I'm more than american Last Line: I wanted to go to college %in a place where it snowed %wherethe ocean did not reach FAUSTO POEMS: 3. First Line: Spokane, washington, is 186,000 miles away Last Line: He told me, I just blinked my eyes FAUSTO POEMS: 4. First Line: The first night it snowed, fausto Last Line: He stood, knee-deep in white, wearing %only his underwear and a san francisco 49ers hat FAUSTO POEMS: 5. First Line: On thankgiving I took him home Last Line: I thought all hawaiians surfed, I told him FAUSTO POEMS: 6. First Line: In the woods behind my house, fausto Last Line: It's like cold sand, he said. %he said, it's like cold sand FAUSTO POEMS: 7. First Line: We both needed money Last Line: When he asked me %why I was late, I told him %I was taking my time FAUSTO POEMS: 8. First Line: When he did not talk, he would point Last Line: He would talk long-distance on the phone %pointing out the words 'mother,' 'father,' 'home.' FAUSTO POEMS: 9. First Line: He said, he was tired at two Last Line: I would knock on his door, asking %are you there? Are you still there? FIRE AS VERB AND NOUN First Line: Fire, then %turn the page Last Line: Where my sister is buried. I can take you there FIRE STORM: 1 First Line: The highways are closed Last Line: Five hundred years later %and nothing has changed FIRE STORM: 2 First Line: On january 13, 1981, my sister mary and her husband Last Line: Heroism. He died trying to pull mary from the house; her %wild pny hair survived the heat FIRE STORM: 3, CROWN: TO PROVIDE WITH SOMETHING LIKE A CROWN First Line: The fire Last Line: The fire crowned the trees above %my head FIRE STORM: 4 First Line: Often, in this poetry, we steal words, gathering kindling Last Line: Here, I imagine I touched the television screen & heat %blistered my fingers. %the fire crowned the FIRE STORM: 5, FIRES CONTINUE TO BURN OUT OF CONTROL ... First Line: Here, I make my stand, I refuse Last Line: My ribcage a barn fire. %my hair a crown of flame FIRE STORM: 6, SPECTACULAR BARN FIRE SEEN FOR MILES First Line: A fire fueled by exploding barrels of oil and gasoline Last Line: Had been using a cutting torch inside the barn earlier that %day. Cause of the blaze is still under FIRE STORM: 7 First Line: In this vision, mary gives birth to flame, a child that Last Line: Protector; she is a mirror and my future; she is a rabbit from %the hat and my song FIRE STORM: 8 First Line: The phone call a cigarette in the dark, my hello Last Line: Wait. Do you think you can build us a fire before you %leave?' %the cause of the blaze is still unde FIRE STORM: 9, FIRE SALE: A SALE OF MERCHANDISE DAMAGED ... First Line: Here, I offer what I own, change Last Line: Here, I offer what I own: grief %like a burning bush that shouts %forgiveness and never forgives FIRST AND LAST GHOST DANCE OF LESTER FALLSAPART First Line: It rained buffalo Last Line: Everything beautiful %begins somewhere Variant Title(s): How Lester Fallsapart Came To Believe In Magic After H FUTURES First Line: We lived in the hud house Last Line: My brothers and sisters each one %and no one spent any no one GIVING BLOOD First Line: I need money for the taxi cab ride home to the reservation and Last Line: But we've already taken too much of your blood %and you won't be eligible %to donate for another gen GLOSSARY OF A POWWOW First Line: Women's traditional dancer Last Line: They are dancing GOING TO THE MOVIES WITH GERONIMO'S WIFE First Line: If you go to the movies with geronimo's wife Last Line: She whispers them only to blue stones GOOD HAIR Poem Text First Line: Hey, indian boy, why (why!) did you slice off your braids? Last Line: Hey, indian boy, why (why!) did you slice off your braids? Subject(s): Hair; Native Amertican GRAND ENTRY First Line: She danced Last Line: The circle of my life GRANDMOTHER First Line: Old crow of a woman in bonnet, sifting through the dump Last Line: When she died %they gave me her clock GRANDMOTHER, PORCUPINE, TRAFFIC First Line: When big mom saw porcupine Last Line: And cried as she left porcupine alone on the road GRAVITY First Line: What is it that requires an indian man to remember every other Last Line: Just as much as you,' he whispers. 'just as much as you.' GRIEF CALLS US TO THE THINGS OF THIS WORLD Poem Text First Line: The eyes open to a blue telephone Last Line: And haul us, prey and praying, into dust Subject(s): Grief; Fathers; Death; Sorrow; Sadness; Dead, The HAIBUN First Line: In the spring of 1954, two non-indian brothers, james and john, and a Last Line: Cain rose from the lake HARMFUL JAZZ First Line: Jazz music is proving too much Last Line: To the paths of their fathers HEROES First Line: Drinking all night, with lester fallsapart, he tells me the story about Last Line: Up, I tell lester, and he agrees and we drink one for silas something- %or-other, the only medal he' Variant Title(s): Breakaway Bar # HORSES Poem Text First Line: 1,000 ponies, the united states cavalry stole 1,000 ponies Last Line: No horses I own / no horses Subject(s): Animals; Cavalry; Cowboys; Horses; Native Americans - Reservations; Native Americans - Wars; Revenge HORSES First Line: 1,000 ponies, the united states cavalry stole 1,000 ponies Last Line: No horses, I own %no horses Subject(s): Animals; Cavalry; Cowboys; Horses; Native Americans - Reservations; Native Americans - Wars; Revenge HOUSE FIRES First Line: The night my father broke Last Line: In his hands, planning to bury it all %in the graves we had chosen for each other HOW IT HAPPENS First Line: Every day for a year Last Line: Though of course I already knew HOW TO REMODEL THE INTERIOR OF A CATHOLIC CHURCH First Line: The mute carpet must be replaced with mute carpet Last Line: The priest's pockets are heavy with change HOW TO WRITE THE GREAT AMERICAN INDIAN NOVEL Poem Text First Line: All of the indians must have tragic features: tragic noses, eyes, and arms. Last Line: All of the white people will be indians and all of the indians will be ghosts Subject(s): Native Americans; Novels & Novelists; Indians Of America; American Indians; Indians Of South America HOW TO WRITE THE GREAT AMERICAN INDIAN NOVEL First Line: All of the indians must have tragic features: tragic noses, eyes, and arms Last Line: All of the white people will be indians and all of the indians will be ghosts HOW WE LEARN TO SAY MOUTH AND HAND AND SMALL OF BACK First Line: Body to body Last Line: With our own true tongues HUNGER PSALM, 1973 First Line: After the indian money was gone Last Line: Praise the left hand I WOULD STEAL HORSES First Line: I would steal horses Last Line: Hold every disease tight against out skin. INDEPENDENCE DAY First Line: It was the worst goddamn thing I ever saw,' the old man tells Last Line: Tells me. 'I never thought a head could travel that far.' INDIAN BOY LOVE SONG: 1 First Line: Everyone I have lost Last Line: Huddled under old blankets %dreaming their way into %my hands, my heart %closing tight like fists INDIAN BOY LOVE SONG: 2 First Line: I never spoke %the language Last Line: I grew up distant %and always afraid INDIAN BOY LOVE SONG: 3 First Line: I remember when I told Last Line: The heart of my heart, all %the beautiful white girls on oneside, %my beautiful cousin on the other INDIAN BOY LOVE SONG: 4 First Line: I remember when my father would leave Last Line: I %would wait by my window, dreaming %bottles %familiar in my hands, not my father's, always %empty INDIAN BOYS DREAM OF ICARUS First Line: I acknowledge you, indian boys Last Line: Desire wild ponies loose in my hands, %my narrow chest. We wear the same bones INDIGENOUS HUNGER ARTIST First Line: The cupboard is empty Last Line: On the salt %of my hands INSIDE DACHAU Poem Text First Line: Having lied to our german hosts about our plan Last Line: I have nothing new to say about death. Subject(s): Dachau, Germany; Concentration Camps INSIDE DACHAU: 1. BIG LIES, SMALL LIES First Line: Having lied to our german hosts about our plans Last Line: Who have come to understand the master plan INSIDE DACHAU: 2. HISTORY AS THE HOME MOVIE First Line: It begins and ends with ash, though we insist Last Line: Decades after dachau fell, we stand in mist %that begins and ends with ash Subject(s): Concentration Camps INSIDE DACHAU: 3. COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS First Line: Why are we here? What have we come to see? Last Line: Are we searching for an apology? INSIDE DACHAU: 4. THE AMERICAN INDIAN HOLOCAUST MUSEUM First Line: What do we indigenous people want from our country Last Line: We are waiting for the construction of our museum INSIDE DACHAU: 5. SONGS FROM THOSE WHO LOVE THE FLAMES First Line: We start the fires Last Line: From children's choirs: %ash, ash INSIDE DACHAU: 6. AFTER WE ARE FREE First Line: If I were jewish, how would I mourn the dead Last Line: I am spokane. I step into the river and close my eyes INSIDE DACHAU: 7. BELOW FREEZING First Line: Dachau was so cold I could see my breath Last Line: I have nothing new to say about death INTRODUCTION TO WESTERN CIVILIZATION First Line: In spain, on the mediterranean coast, there is a walled city Last Line: As a vivid warning against any further attacks on the church LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT First Line: By now, of course, you realize I have lost the house keys again Last Line: With all the metaphors in the world at your disposal, mourn LEARNING TO DROWN First Line: I used to go with my big brother Last Line: One by one, while the other %prisoners watched %from the river bank, silent %bowed into themselves LOTTERY First Line: The professor tells me he dreams, dreams of a bus station at the Last Line: You can win that car, drive away, hide in a rest stop miles from%anywhere red or white, or anything LOVE HARD First Line: Hookum, jug-in-a-brown-bag man Last Line: Where I was raised, dust %thin and unforgiving, time and god and beer %following us in rows LOVER OF MAPS First Line: She unfolds and folds me Last Line: Larger than can be held %by our clumsy hands MARRIAGE First Line: What it comes to is this: bread Last Line: The sacred and the utilitarian share an apartment overlooking the %river MEMORIAL DAY, 1972 First Line: I was too young to clean graves Last Line: O, lord, remember, o do remember me MICE WAR First Line: We dumped six garbage cans and watched dozens of mice Last Line: Who, in our beginning, in our end, wanted to flee the reservation MIGRATION, 1902 First Line: The salmon swim Last Line: On the bridge %of their spines MISDEMEANORS First Line: The old man tells me he's a tough ex-con but his wife, the waitress Subject(s): Ex-convicts MISDEMEANORS First Line: The old man tells me he's a tough ex-con but his wife, the waitress Last Line: Of a felony charge. He was in county jail for six months. Thank %god he wasn't trying to steal horse Subject(s): Ex-convicts MISSING First Line: Crazy horse gets a job at 7-11, four dollars an hour, graveyard Last Line: Every hour punched into their hearts, floating just above minimum MISTRANSLATION OF A TRADITIONAL SPOKANE INDIAN SONG First Line: And then bear says to me Last Line: Way ya hi yo MORPHINE AND CODEINE First Line: What was it you told me about your pain? Last Line: So I knew what you were thinking, who dreamed for years %of cancer, that loup garou, that house fire MUSEUM OF TOLERANCE First Line: Has opened its doors Last Line: But nobody can agree on the price of admission MYSTERY OF MUSIC First Line: The guitar discovered flute's mangled body Last Line: When saxophone solved the crime NATIVE AMERICAN BROADCASTING SYSTEM First Line: Five hundred years from now, archaeologists will discover Last Line: The grasses grow %the rivers flow Subject(s): Alcoholics And Alcoholism; Cherokee Indians; Greyhounds; Native Americans - History; Native Americans - Wars; Nuclear War; Trail Of Tears (1838-39); Travel NATIVE HERO First Line: I can never call the reservation home Last Line: No matter where it goes or what hand it chooses %I can never call the reservation home NO DRUGS OR ALCOHOL ALLOWED First Line: At the spokane tribal centennial celebration but seymour is a Last Line: Skinless, driving our cars straight off cliffs directly into%the beginning of nowhere ONE STICK SONG First Line: And so now, near the end of the game Last Line: Returned to me %returned to me OPEN BOOKS First Line: Along with the sonnets and blank verse Last Line: Off, would not reach us for decades OWL DANCING WITH FRED ASTAIRE First Line: I met the indian woman who asked fred astaire to dance Last Line: And, of course, y is always equal to fred astaire PAWN SHOP First Line: I walk into the bar, after being gone for a while, and it's empty Last Line: A single heart beating under glass, and I know who it used to belong %to, I know all of them PENANCE Poem Text First Line: I remember sun Last Line: They can possibly hold Subject(s): Sports PENANCE First Line: I remember sun Last Line: Ness, between the hands reach- %ing up and everything %they can possibly hold Subject(s): Sports POEM WRITTEN IN REPLICATION OF MY FATHER'S UNFINISHED NOVEL First Line: Indian summer. Leaves fallen Last Line: This is all I know about peace POSTCARDS TO COLUMBUS Poem Text First Line: Beginning at the front door of the white house, travel west Last Line: Of your television set? Can you hear the ghost of drums approasching? Subject(s): Loss; Moving & Movers; Refugees; United States - Immigration & Emigtration POSTCARDS TO COLUMBUS First Line: Beginning at the front door of the white house, travel west Last Line: Of your television set? Can you hear ghosts of drums approaching? Subject(s): Loss; Moving And Movers; Refugees; U.s. - Immigration And Emigration POWWOW First Line: You too can have a photographic memory Last Line: A little but more and more it's memory lasting longer %and longer like uranium just beginning a half POWWOW AT THE END OF THE WORLD First Line: I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall Last Line: With my tribe during the powwow at the end of the world POWWOW LOVE SONGS First Line: Mating indians and mating birds are the same,' says a white friend Last Line: When she is absent, I hold that quilt to my face %and memorize its smell POWWOW POLAROID Poem Text First Line: We were fancydancing, you see Last Line: My uncle held his great belly in his hands, walked amoung the fancy dancers / forgiveness Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; United States - Race Relations POWWOW POLAROID First Line: We were fancydancing, you see Last Line: The fancydancers, said this: %forgiveness Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; U.s. - Race Relations PRAYER ANIMALS First Line: Do not try to convince me the united states is anything other than savannah Last Line: My only question: will the hunter use the rifle or his teeth READING HARVEY SHAPIRO'S POETRY WHILE STANDING IN LINE First Line: I am afraid of space, the lack of gravity, the immeasurable cold Last Line: A strong wind could blow a star-shaped hole right through both of us RED BLUES Poem Text First Line: Music. Then, more music. Does it matter what kind? Let's say it is bagpipes Last Line: It;s just me and my blues Subject(s): Photography & Photographers; Dancing & Dancers; Native Americans; Uncles RED BLUES First Line: Music. Then, more music. Does it matter what kind? Let's say it is bagpipes Last Line: Listen, sweetheart. Can you hear that music? Then, more music? It's just me and my blues Subject(s): Music And Musicians RESERVATION CAB DRIVER First Line: Waits outside the breakaway bar Last Line: Same place you are, crazy horse answers %somewhere way up the goddamn road RESERVATION LOVE SONG First Line: I can meet you Last Line: They smell like grandmother %hands digging up roots %they have powerful magic %we can sleep good %we RISE First Line: We are taught to take the bread Last Line: Amen, amen, amen RUNNING FROM THE MAFIA First Line: I dreamed the mafia Last Line: Mafia exactly like I whisper your name SASQUATCH POEMS First Line: I believe in sasquatch Last Line: With a smile, I don't know if I believe in sasquatch %but he sure do stink SEATTLE, 1987 First Line: This late in the 20th century Last Line: There are so many illusions I need to believe SECONDHAND GRIEF First Line: After his father dies Last Line: Strangers all of them SEVEN LOVE SONGS WHICH INCLUDE THE COLLECTED HISTORY OF THE First Line: In this life, I feared you Last Line: After 500 years of continuous lies, %I would still sign treaties for you SEX IN MOTEL ROOMS First Line: Because I need music Last Line: Vacant motel room in the world SHOES First Line: Let's say Last Line: Sucking on your own toes? %do you remember all that simple joy? SIGN LANGUAGE First Line: Find the spokane river as it leaves Last Line: I hold my index finger and thumnb an inch apart SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF GOD First Line: She, who was once my sister Last Line: Is now the dust %the soft edge of the earth SISTER FIRE, BROTHER SMOKE First Line: Have I b ecome an accomplished liar Last Line: If I see my sisster in every fire SITTIN' ON THE DOCK OF THE BAY First Line: Otis redding %died only a few days after Last Line: One because there was nothing else to do SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED First Line: Gordie the glazer making donuts Last Line: Teaching his daughter card tricks, %watching the windows %waiting for something to happen SONG OF OURSELF First Line: While walt whitman sang about his body, the still body Last Line: Of one indian grew into two, then ten, then multitudes SONNET: TATTOO TEARS First Line: No one will believe this story I'm telling, so it must be true Last Line: Imagine how much of the reservation she had tattooed across her skin? SOON TO BE A NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SPECIAL First Line: All of the indian boys in the world Last Line: Somewhere behind the poker-faced moon SPECIAL DELIVERY First Line: Thomas builds-the-fire told his story to every other skin on the Last Line: Listened to the spaces between sound. It isn't necessary, she wanted %to say, it isn't necessary SPOKANE TRIBAL CELEBRATION, SEPTEMBER 1987 First Line: This is the first powwow I Last Line: Will drink all night long, if seymour's dreams %will keep him warm like a blanket, like a fire SUDDEN DEATH First Line: Down past the tracks in the tin shack Last Line: On the platform, whistling for god and 1956 %to pick him up,carry him on their shoulders SUGAR TOWN First Line: My father, my van gogh, is crazy Last Line: A better man than I am SUMMER OF BLACK WIDOWS First Line: The spiders appeared suddenly Last Line: Nor water, neither rock nor wind, %can bring them down SUPPLY & DEMAND First Line: Lester fallsapart made a small fortune Last Line: And we cried %until all we could do was laugh TEN THOUSAND FATHERS First Line: Everywhere fathers are dying or dead Last Line: Curse and praise and curse and praise our fathers TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE First Line: I %have seen it Last Line: Hunger becomes madness easily THAT PLACE WHERE GHOSTS OF SALMON JUMP First Line: Coyote was alone and angry because he could not find love Last Line: Where I sing softly, under my breath, alone and angry THE POWWOW AT THE END OF THE WORLD Poem Text First Line: I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall Last Line: With my tribe during the powwow at the end of the world Subject(s): Native Americans; Indians Of America; American Indians; Indians Of South America THEOLOGY First Line: The mad barber wants to cut my hair Last Line: And shoot him twice %once in each eye. THEOLOGY OF COCKROACHES First Line: Cockroach %diane says, it might have been Last Line: A cockroach or nothing at all Subject(s): Cockroaches THINGS (FOR AN INDIAN) TO DO IN NEW YORK (CITY) Poem Text First Line: Walk down the avenue of the americas Last Line: She loves me, she loves me Subject(s): New York City; Native Americans; Identity; Urban Life THINGS (FOR AN INDIAN) TO DO IN NEW YORK (CITY) First Line: Walk down the avenue of the americas Last Line: She loves me, she loves me [or, she loves me, of course, she's my wife] Subject(s): Cities TINY TREATIES First Line: What I remember most about loving you Last Line: Because I don't want to know the answer TOTEMS First Line: Meryl streep Last Line: Martin luther king jr %father %mother TOURISTS: 1. JAMES DEAN Poem Text First Line: Walks everywhere now. He's afraid of fast cars Last Line: He wants them to finish the song Subject(s): Dean, James (1931-1955) TOURISTS: 1. JAMES DEAN First Line: Walks everywhere now. He's afraid of fast cars Last Line: He wants them to finish the song Variant Title(s): For The Avery 'knickerbocker Subject(s): Dean, James (1931-1955) TOURISTS: 2. JANIS JOPLIN Poem Text First Line: Sits by the jukebox in the powwow tavern Last Line: Sings along off key Subject(s): Joplin, Janis (1943-1970) TOURISTS: 2. JANIS JOPLIN First Line: Sits by the jukebox in the powwow tavern Last Line: And sings along off key Subject(s): Joplin, Janis (1943-1970) TOURISTS: 3. MARILYN MONROE Poem Text First Line: Drives herself to the reservation. Tired and cold Last Line: Finally, she is no more naked than anyone else Subject(s): Monroe, Marilyn (1926-1962) TOURISTS: 3. MARILYN MONROE First Line: Drives herself to the reservation. Tired and cold Last Line: Finally, she is no more naked than anyone else Subject(s): Monroe, Marilyn (1926-1962) TRANSIENT First Line: If it was your face I saw Last Line: Alone, we had come together %to call this space arched in our backs home TRANSLATED FROM THE AMERICAN Poem Text First Line: After all the drive-in theaters have closed Last Line: I'll give them exa t directions Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; United States - Race Relations TRANSLATED FROM THE AMERICAN First Line: After all the drive-in theaters have closed Last Line: I'll give them exact directions Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; U.s. - Race Relations TRAVELING First Line: My eyes were closed tight in the reservation november night and Last Line: To the van, put my shoulder to the cold metal and waited forsome- %thing to change UNAUTHORIZED AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ME First Line: Late summer night on the spokane indian reservation. Ten indi Last Line: Thank you,' I say, 'but that's my father sitting right next to you.' VISION (2) Poem Text First Line: No money for lunch so I rode an elevator to the top of the onb Last Line: Extras, we're a; extras Subject(s): Native Americans; Racism; Motion Pictures VISION (2) First Line: No money for lunch so I rode an elevator to the top of the onb Last Line: Voice or his song. %extras, we're all extras Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; U.s. - Race Relations WAR ALL THE TIME First Line: Crazy horse comes back from vietnam Last Line: Crazy horse tells him you can't stop a man %from trying to survive, no matter where he is WARRIORS: A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN First Line: Five or six or seven spokane indian girls played on the warriors Last Line: Spokane indian women, I'm sorry. I grew up distant and always afraid WARRIORS: A LEXICAL INTERLUDE First Line: A reservation little league baseball team called the warriors? Last Line: Irony played third base WARRIORS: A NOSTALGIC INTERLUDE First Line: My father always used to tell me that he was so poor he had to Last Line: Ful, with a left-handed catcher's mitt tied loosely to his belt WARRIORS: A PHILOSOPHICAL INTERLUDE First Line: A few years ago, I drove up to chewelah, washington, to watch Last Line: It never happens,' he said. 'nothing ever happens in right field.' WARRIORS: DESIGNATED HITTER First Line: Randy peone, the blue-eyed spokane indian, was the star Last Line: Game. Randy and I danced circles around each other as we celebrated our victory WARRIORS: EXTRA INNINGS First Line: In my dreams, I step up to the plate and the bases are loaded Last Line: Swing and swing. I hate baseball WARRIORS: IN THE BATTER'S BOX First Line: I literally could not hit the ball. I swung and whiffed, swung Last Line: Met to the ground, and flop on the bench. Nobody would say a word to me WARRIORS: OPENING DAY First Line: I hate baseball. I hate it because of its patriotic and inaccurate Last Line: Fielding skills, I knew I was destined for mediocrity as a baseball player WARRIORS: STRATOMATIC INDIANS First Line: Steve lebret, my next door neighbor and brother-by-proclama Last Line: Almost died. He was alive WATER First Line: I know a woman %who swims naked in the ocean Last Line: Like everything was two parts broken heart and one part hope WHAT WE NOTICE, WHAT WE MISS First Line: Sixty-seven beer bottles hidden beneath the bed Last Line: Carrying god on its shoulders WHEN I DIE First Line: Call the cooks Last Line: Bury me alone %in old blankets %'bones,' we whisper in stick game %we all get to choose WHEN I WAS MY FATHER I SANG LOVE SONGS TO MY SON First Line: Drunk like that, I Last Line: One day longer than you WHY INDIAN MEN FALL IN LOVE WITH WHITE WOMEN First Line: This is how it is.' says the white woman in the donut shop Last Line: Balanced on the lower lid of her left eye. She is job, my dear job WHY WE PLAY BASKETBALL Poem Text First Line: In december, snow / covered the court Last Line: We build small fires Subject(s): Basketball; Native Americans WHY WE PLAY BASKETBALL First Line: In december, snow %covered the court Last Line: We build small fires Subject(s): Sports |
|