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Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Searching... Author: ORTIZ, SIMON J. Matches Found: 598 Ortiz, Simon J. Poet's Biography 598 poems available by this author 21 AUGUST '71 INDIAN First Line: Building the fire Last Line: Or at least even a lawyer A BARROOM FRAGMENT Poem Text First Line: He was talking, / 'I invited her to las vegas Subject(s): Native Americans; Indians Of America; American Indians; Indians Of South America A NEW STORY Poem Text First Line: Several years ago Last Line: "no,"" I said. No" Subject(s): Native Americans; Parades A PRETTY WOMAN Poem Text First Line: We came to the edge Last Line: Looking at her Subject(s): Nature A SAN DIEGO POEM: JANUARY - FEBRUARY 1973: SURVIVAL THIS WAY Poem Text First Line: Survival, I know how this way Last Line: "this way." Variant Title(s): A San Diego Poem: January-february 1973: Survival This Way ACRES Poem Text First Line: Acres / across which to run Last Line: Who watches now? Subject(s): Buffaloes ACRES Last Line: Sighs sighs weave grass. %who watches now? Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 ACROSS THE PRAIRIE HILLS First Line: Distance, destiny, memory Last Line: We need this, the truest road ADMITTING First Line: Cleo, it was so good to see you Last Line: More than our need for humble strength %and sacred courage, a cry for help AFFIRMATIVE ACTION First Line: One fourth of july, %my kids and I went to see the parade %in grants Last Line: With cajuns, okies, mexicans, blacks %as well as indians AFTER LIGHTNING First Line: For all we know, we could be Last Line: The moment before always too late AFTER READING SEVERAL ALICE WALKER POEMS THIS MORNING, A TER Last Line: Shadows. Carry your own dead AFTER THE STORM First Line: In california, lost children wander Last Line: Yearning around them, raging still ALBERT WAS TELLING ABOUT WHEN HE WAS A BOY. HE AND OTHER Last Line: To say, he is lakota still and always will be ALBUQUERQUE BACK AGAIN: 12/6/74 First Line: After leaving joy at class Last Line: It was beginning to snow then ALWAYS JUST LIKE YOU JUST LIKE ME First Line: Meanwhile %and meantime Last Line: Number or need for number we/they are people just like you and just %like me ALWAYS THE SONG First Line: Just recently I've been trying to remember my dreams, jim. Too often I've not Last Line: That was now the dawn. Thank you, I said softly. Thank you, jim, for the %song of the dawn this morn AMAZEMENT First Line: Sudden shift in the weather Last Line: That's the sudden %ness that amazes AND ANOTHER ONE First Line: One time, %four people were eating together Last Line: Pehrru was known to be a shrewd man AND THE LAND IS JUST AS DRY' First Line: The horizons are still mine Last Line: You call me a drunk indian, go ahead Variant Title(s): 'and The Land Is Just As Dry'; Line - Song By Peter Lafarg AND THERE IS ALWAYS ONE MORE STORY. MY MOTHER WAS TELLING THIS ONE First Line: One time, %(or like rainy said, 'you're sposed to say, 'onesa ponsa time,' Last Line: Go ahead and go, may you get crushed %by a falling rock somewhere! ANGER MEANT NOTHING TO THEM Poem Text Last Line: Their compassion, their honor Subject(s): Anti-intellectualism; Anger ANGER MEANT NOTHING TO THEM Last Line: Their most precious treasure: %their compassion, their anger Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 ANN'S MOTHER TELLS A STORY OF HER MOTHER AND AUNT SENT INTO Last Line: Teach how to survive. 'can you just imagine?' she says, astonished ANTHROPOLOGY OF AMERICAN SCHOLARS: NOTES, THAT IS First Line: What? Last Line: Cross the river, and so I'm stuck with more listening and taking notes and %wondering APACHE LOVE First Line: It is how you feel %about the land Last Line: It is you, %it is you, %it is you, %it is you ARC OF LIGHT First Line: I dress in front of the dawn Last Line: My dressing, all things, me, into light ARKANSAS RIVER IS TURGID Poem Text Last Line: Send word to the ira Subject(s): Alienation (social Psychology) ARKANSAS RIVER IS TURGID Last Line: Head east for kansas, make arrows %send word to the ira Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 ARRIVAL IN SUDDEN SEASIDE FOG THIS MORNING First Line: Last night traveling %through the barebone desert Last Line: Vanished into the sudden fog ARRIVING AND LEAVING HERE First Line: The wind's cold teeth gnaw at my skin Last Line: And we have to accept that %when we arrive here and leave this place AS ALIYOSHO APPROACHED A SPRING, HE SAW AN OLD HORSE. THE Last Line: Away and in their place were white spots. The old horse became caballo pinto AS WE COME THIS NIGHT FROM THE WESTERN HILLS ABOVE OKREEK Last Line: Reach the safe shore AS WE RIDE TOWARD MISSION AND ARE FIVE MILES EAST OF THE SMALL Last Line: Beautiful vastness of this prairie. We know we are alive AT THE GAS & GIT First Line: I'm getting gas Last Line: Hearing their gently soothing thundersong AT THE SALVATION ARMY Poem Text Last Line: My life. My life. Subject(s): Salvation Army; Conduct Of Life BABY BIRD PRAYERS FOR MY CHILDREN, RAHO AND RAINY First Line: Gentle murmurs of wind, now Last Line: And then you will fly. %you will fly BACK EAST. BUT WHEN? WHERE? WHAT? WHO? First Line: It was right there. Yet peripheral. But right before him Last Line: So %it's peripheral, accept it, he thought, it's peripheral, accept it BARREN First Line: Last night's wind %has blown some snow away Last Line: The people get back.... %their lives?' %answers falter BARROOM FRAGMENT First Line: He was talking, %'I invited her to las vegas Last Line: That was coyote talking Subject(s): Native Americans BE First Line: Be a good buddhist Last Line: Be a good buddhist without smiling BEAUTY ALL AROUND: A MOMENT ON THE LAKOTA PRAIRIE First Line: Now the sun is so low on the horizon Last Line: When I feel and think within hozhoni, I am within hozhoni and that is my %presence BEAUTY ALL AROUND: BORROWED FROM DINEH First Line: Now the sun is so low on the horizon Last Line: This is the song and the prayer BEAUTY UNMATCHED First Line: Icy bits of snow skittering Last Line: Blue prairie, and a pink plunging sky BECOMING HUMAN First Line: We are given permission %by the responsibility we accept Last Line: Inward and outward, accepting: %stand and be humble BEFORE AND BEHIND ME First Line: I look in the mirror Last Line: Before me in the mirror. %behind me in the mirror BEGINNING AND ENDING SONG: PART 1 First Line: Yes, your honor, judge Last Line: Where is my life, judge? BEGINNING AND ENDING SONG: PART 2 First Line: Fifty days jail Last Line: You honor to honor, judge BEING POOR' AND POWERLESS. AND REFUSING AGAIN First Line: Roxanne calls and says, 'guess who's back in town?' Last Line: Protects them from the poor and the powerless BELIEVING THE BELIEF First Line: They believed! Last Line: Oh my, they believed! %they absolutely believed! BELOVED MY DESCENDANTS, I KNOW YOU THIS WAY First Line: Eagle prayer feather Last Line: Yes, these are all my descendants, they are, beloved BEND IN THE RIVER First Line: Flicker flies by. %his ochre wing Last Line: We shall arrive, %to see, soon BEST MOVIES First Line: I've always loved good movies Last Line: Is how a story is told and facing it %is a major part of the story that is mine BETWEEN ALBUQUERQUE AND SANTA FE: A NEW MEXICO PLACE NAME First Line: In this case, american history %has repeated itself Last Line: A six-pack. On the way back to albuquerque, we drank in silence BETWEEN ALBUQUERQUE AND SANTA FE: BACK INTO THE WOMB, THE CENTER First Line: We got into dave's vw %in alburquerque and drove Last Line: Home. It's a memory of it, that time BETWEEN ALBUQUERQUE AND SANTA FE: FINGERS TALKING IN THE WIND First Line: They talked, %laughed by making motions Last Line: The stories, that one. Don't ever tell him that one, though BETWEEN ALBUQUERQUE AND SANTA FE: LIKE MISSISSIPPI First Line: Several years back, %shirley, rand, hilary, %agnes, brian, raho and I Last Line: We all went into the chapel and said a prayer for thanks. That was %that time BETWEEN SOUTH DAKOTA AND THERE First Line: There isn't a single car or truck Last Line: We know we will reach there BEYOND THE HORIZON First Line: Storms to the east of here, charlene says Last Line: Storms pass safely at last away from us for now BEYOND THE MARGIN First Line: Longing goes as far Last Line: Beyond that %is our destiny BILLY AND DANNY AND LARRY. AND ME Last Line: He was as fortunate as all of us Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 BIRTHDAY KID POEM First Line: Don't worry about the pain Last Line: Nyuu skhetsashru. %be enduring. %be enduring BLESSINGS First Line: You and your crooked leg, james Last Line: Blessings for you, for us, for our children %in this war BLIND CURSE Poem Text First Line: You could drive blind Subject(s): Driving & Drivers; Nature BLIND CURSE First Line: You could drive blind Last Line: One hundred and eighty miles through the storm BLUE JAY PECKS INTO THE HARD CRUSTY SNOW. WORKING FOR ITS Last Line: People are driven to slavery in today's world BLUE WHALE, THE LARGEST LIVING ANIMAL I'VE NEVER SEEN First Line: I've never seen one except on a Last Line: Powerfully taking us beyond the museum %into the beauty and sacred that creation is BLUES SONG FOR THE PHOENIX BUS DEPOT DERELICT First Line: Waiting for my bus %that comes in tonight Last Line: Just this one time for me BONES Last Line: Their fingers greasy %and slick Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 BONY First Line: My father brought that dog home %in a gunny sack Last Line: We loved it without question, %its history and ours BOX ELDERS ARE STRANGE INSECTS, SEEMING LOST AND WITHOUT PUR Last Line: Because in those margins nothing is strange or odd or lost or %without purpose BOY AND COYOTE First Line: You can see the rippled sand rifts Last Line: To listen for the motion of sound BROTHERS AND FRIENDS First Line: Laugh at magpie this morning Last Line: All are my brothers and friends BUCK NEZ First Line: Ten miles %the other side of nageezi Last Line: For my mother, %the earth BUFFALO LIGHT NOW First Line: Without knowing at first what it is Last Line: Buffalo, I am singing for it BURNING RIVER Poem Text First Line: I will tell my son over and over again Last Line: Four times the river Subject(s): Rivers; Fire BURNING RIVER First Line: I will tell my son over and over again Last Line: The river, %the river, %four times the river BUSRIDE CONVERSATION First Line: She says, %'I came to albuquerque %on wednesday.' Last Line: Be good,' I say. %'you too,' she says BUSTED BOY Poem Text Subject(s): Social Commentaries; United States - Race Relations; Police BUSTED BOY First Line: He couldn't have been more than sixteen years old Last Line: Waiting for busted boys, busted indians, busted lives BUZZARD First Line: Climbing suddenly %out of a ravine Last Line: Breath is let out, %and the hot wind reeks again BY THE COTTONWOOD First Line: Not much for the day Last Line: All my love %a prayer whisper wish CANYON DE CHELLY First Line: Lie on your back on stone Last Line: And around it, the earth, ourselves CHANT First Line: I dozed off after finishing man's fate. What better thing to do? Doze off Last Line: I've been reading in my own way. %'I know better,' she says and smiles back CHOOSING WORDS IS A WASTE OF TIME. LET THE WORDS CHOOSE Last Line: We can, when we choose words, it is a waste of time CLAIMING TERRITORY First Line: It is a magnificent idea. Claiming territory Last Line: By the incomprehensible idea. %this is mine COMING FROM VALENTINE, NEBRASKA, CROSSING THE STATE LINE INTO Last Line: Go gently, dylan thomas whispered loudly into the dark COMING TO KNOW First Line: Fog melds the trees Last Line: I would know again COMPREHENDING First Line: Sawing firewood, I feel my skin Last Line: Of this margin that awes CONSTERNATION First Line: Consternation may be the moon Last Line: Not mistaken in this belief and faith and love, %we can accept this consternation COPING First Line: Paroxysm of bitter cold wind Last Line: A deeply throated frozen moan CRAZY GOOK INDIANS First Line: Danny and emmett got back from vietnam Last Line: Defend us against that marine CREATING LANGUAGE First Line: To use language, %the speaker has to know Last Line: He is a creator then %of that language CREATION, ACCORDING TO COYOTE First Line: First of all, it's all true.' Last Line: And you know, I believe him CROSSING First Line: Go to the post office in mission Last Line: Cannot fail us crossing the storm's middle CROSSING THE COLORADO RIVER INTO YUMA First Line: It is almost dusk Last Line: Sing a bit, be patient. %wait CROW First Line: Did you see any crows %in san diego!' Last Line: He made it look so easy CULTURE AND THE UNIVERSE Poem Text First Line: Two nights ago Subject(s): Native Americans; Indians Of America; American Indians; Indians Of South America CULTURE AND THE UNIVERSE First Line: Two nights ago Last Line: It is the stars %we do not let own us CURLY MUSTACHE, 101-YEAR-OLD NAVAJO MAN First Line: Thin, strong man. %wears glasses Last Line: On earth places %of his mind DAVID CALLS TOM A CYNIC BECAUSE TOM SAYS YOU CAN'T BUILD A Last Line: Prayer and respect, all of that a holy fit DAWN First Line: The sun on the prairie horizon Last Line: And we, the dawn's own DAWN PRAYER FOR ALL First Line: Right before dawn, in the blue light of it Last Line: For the presence of all things, for the pain DEER ARE BEAUTIFUL, UNAFRAID, COMING SLOWLY DOWN THE HILL Last Line: Only a dream, only a pretty postcard. But no, it is real as any inter-crossing DEER DINNER First Line: After you have gotten a deer Last Line: And not to disappoint her promises DERANGED Last Line: Just like they came, %civilized, souless Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 DESIGNATED NATIONAL PARK First Line: Montezuma castle in the verde valley, arizona Last Line: See museum for more information DESTINATION, SEEKING First Line: Early this morning, the moon glides Last Line: I only owe myself the humility of seeking it DESTINATION: DESTINY First Line: On the way to rosebud this afternoon Last Line: We still hope for a destiny that's been reliable till now DESTINED First Line: Snow flies furiously eastward Last Line: A destiny we cannot deny DON'T FRET NOW Poem Text Last Line: Warriors will keep alive in blood Subject(s): Perseverance DON'T FRET NOW Last Line: Warriors will keep alive in the blood Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 DREAM Last Line: In this heart %which is our america Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 DREAM: QUIET WIND First Line: As the fire starts Last Line: And it offers us this morning DREAMER'S SONG First Line: Yes, the morning sun. %yes, the land all around Last Line: The dream is always the dreamer DREAMS Last Line: Me, %I think as far as california, %I do Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 DRIVING BACK FROM WINNER LAST NIGHT, THERE WAS AN UNUSUAL Last Line: Climbing the prairie hills, right there toward the next galaxy DRIVING, THE SNOWY WIND First Line: Tried to get to rosebud Last Line: The breathing of the prairie DRY ROOT IN A WASH First Line: The sand is fine grit Last Line: With crystalline moisture, %the forming rain DUSTY PLAYS Last Line: Throbbing aches %and bullets Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 DYING WARRIOR First Line: Leonard bluebird, %she tells me in smitty's bar Last Line: At the streets and the dying bird EAGLE WING First Line: Partners at seventy the generations Last Line: Partners at seventy the generations EARLY MORNING First Line: One knows %some instinctive response %to movements Last Line: Acres and acres %of silence. %where was the moon? EARLY, THE PRAIRIE AWAKENS ME First Line: In the quiet cold dark Last Line: Its cold shudder afterall again EARTH AND RAIN, THE PLANTS & SUN First Line: Once near san ysidro Last Line: Listen, son, hold my hand EARTH MOTHER, SHE CARES First Line: The tenth november day now Last Line: Pray hard, pray hard: hard EARTH WOMAN First Line: This woman has been shaping %mountains Last Line: The moving pain %of pleasure %we share EAST OF SAN DIEGO First Line: I tell the bus driver %but he doesn't hear Last Line: From bad, futureless dreams %in southern california.' EAST OF TUCUMCARI First Line: I asked to get off Last Line: The northern mountains %in the water EDGE FACING US First Line: The snow has blown Last Line: It is the silver snow ENORMOUS KNOWLEDGE First Line: It is amazing %how much knowledge Last Line: Heart, %whisper loudly EPIC First Line: Mythic roads lead us beyond ourselves Last Line: They could be returning or leaving. %we could be leaving or returning ESSENTIALISM First Line: Knowing about being indian Last Line: And think insane twisted thoughts your emotions tangling and twisting your %face and making you swal EVEN 'THE INDIANS' BELIEVED First Line: Indians were made up? Last Line: Where. %no where EVEN THIS ONE Last Line: Here, a whirlpool %of exiles drowning him Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 EVENING BEACH WALK First Line: I don't really feel like walking %at first Last Line: Looking for things in the dim light EXCUSE IS EASY Last Line: But they were shallow eyes %called men. %billy? %billy? Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 EXPECTANT FATHER First Line: I am an expectant father Last Line: When it rains in a soft wind, %it feels so good FAITH DOES NOT FORGET First Line: Fog shrouding the trees and browned grass Last Line: It was our guide then, even more now %as we head north under the lifting fog FAR HILLS ARE NO LONGER FAR HILLS. THE HORIZON HAS MERGED Last Line: Acknowledge and cannot deny FARMER AND THE BANKER First Line: What happens when faith breaks? Last Line: Terror at last settled, the debt unpaid as planned, %the question unanswered FEBRUARY AND VIOLET First Line: Two days after valentine's day Last Line: Looking outside and right there, always %will be the discovery offered to us FIELD OF SCARS First Line: Old scar tissue does not heal Last Line: It is from here our seeds grow FINAL SOLUTION: JOBS, LEAVING Poem Text First Line: They would leave Last Line: The women were so angry Subject(s): Migrant Labor; Chicanos; Farewell; Labor & Laborers FINAL SOLUTION: JOBS, LEAVING First Line: They would leave Last Line: And skin. Wretched muscles FINAL SOLUTION: JOBS, LEAVING First Line: They would leave %on sundays from the depot in grants Last Line: Love. The woman anger and courage risen as the people's voice again FIRST BIRD SONGS First Line: Is a little wind FIRST HARD CORE First Line: Herb, me, art, and wiley %rode car pool together for a while Last Line: I just said I didn't know FIRST PRAYERS First Line: First, say a prayer Last Line: First, these things FLAGSTAFF NOTES First Line: Hummingbird comes by singing a hummingbird song Last Line: Remember time. Time passes. And we pass through time FLYING First Line: Into the jolt and swirl %of clouds hanging Last Line: We must know %the surge of our lives FOLLOWING WORDS... First Line: I find now %that you have finally %come to know me Last Line: In order that you may see yourself FOOLISH BELIEVERS First Line: This is the inexorable, momentous fact Last Line: And we will never be enough awed FOR JOY TO LEAVE UPON First Line: Last night a bit before six Last Line: Tonight, there is a waning moon FOR NANAO First Line: That time you came back %and told us Last Line: In millennia. I can see %the lights in your eyes FOR NOW IT'S ENOUGH: LATE NIGHT AT ARA HOUSE: THANK GOD First Line: After midnight. What else can a late night be but late. A question and Last Line: But that was okay too. It's like everything else. I don't want a lot. Just %enough FOR OUR BROTHERS: BLUE JAY, GOLD FINCH, FLICKER, SQUIRREL First Line: They all loved life, %and suddenly Last Line: Squirrel. Flicker. Gold finch. Blue jay. %our brothers FOR RAINY'S BOOK First Line: Poetry is %the silence Last Line: Of sun and quuti FOR THE CHILDREN First Line: They say the children were 'traded' Last Line: When they return to acoma one day. %still today the people wait FOR THOSE SISTERS & BROTHERS IN GALLUP First Line: He is that twisted shadow Last Line: Into me into me into me into me FOREVER First Line: At deetseyaamah, I liked looking south Last Line: Look right now. It is a view of snow FORMING CHILD First Line: O child's tremble %against your mother's innerwall Last Line: Bear's got a lot of friends FOUR BIRD SONGS: 1 First Line: In a little wind %fledgling %nestled Last Line: One single universe, %I %am %only a little FOUR BIRD SONGS: 2 First Line: The sound %in wood, %a morning hollowness Last Line: You are rewarded %for waiting FOUR BIRD SONGS: 3 First Line: By breathing he started %into the space Last Line: And he sang %another song for that FOUR BIRD SONGS: 4 First Line: An old stone %was an old blue Last Line: It was still warm %with that life FOUR DEETSEYAMAH POEMS First Line: I wake this morning to snow Last Line: How well and appropriately FOUR POEMS FOR A CHILD SON / DECEMBER 18, 1972: IT WAS THE THIRD DAY, JULY 12 , 1971 Poem Text First Line: Hitchhiking on the way to colorado Last Line: Look, the stones with voices Subject(s): Native Americans; Hitchhikers; Fathers & Sons FOUR POEMS FOR A CHILD SON: 'WHAT'S YOUR INDIAN NAME?' First Line: It has to do with full moments Last Line: And that's only the beginning FOUR POEMS FOR A CHILD SON: IT WAS THE THIRD DAY, JULY 12, 1971 First Line: Hitchhiking on the way to colorado Last Line: Look, the stones with voices FOUR POEMS FOR A CHILD SON: WHAT MY UNCLE TONY TOLD MY SISTER AND ME First Line: Respect your mother and father Last Line: Everything that is around you %is part of you FOUR POEMS FOR A CHILD SON: YESTERDAY First Line: In the late afternoon, %there was suddenly a noise of birds Last Line: The utility wires, the sky, the world. %thats all I know FOUR RAINS: FIRST RAIN First Line: She looks at me Last Line: They will probably last %always last FOUR RAINS: FOURTH RAIN First Line: Don't misunderstand me, %shiwana Last Line: I know her name; %I know FOUR RAINS: SECOND RAIN First Line: Voice %begins this way Last Line: The way they mean %to me FOUR RAINS: THIRD RAIN First Line: Brighteyed flash, %the tiniest mirrored Last Line: There they are. %there FOUR YEARS AGO Last Line: It all adds %ups and downs FRAGMENT First Line: On my way to city court Last Line: And I know that it is %my redemption FREEDOM FROM SCAVENGING First Line: Did you get anything from scavenging?' Last Line: That is too strong an urge FRIEND AND I WERE TALKING YESTERDAY AFTERNOON ABOUT A RE Last Line: Time. The right issue to take action on. Then it'll happen. I %know others are ready.' FRIENDS WRITE ME FROM ARIZONA, COLORADO, NEW YORK, FROM Last Line: Twinge of this wintry prairie cold GENTLE WINTER WIND MOVES BARE POPLAR BRANCHES SLOWLY BACK Last Line: Awareness when there is light. To be is the willingness to be, %nothing more, nothing less GENTLY NOW, THE BLUE DAWN First Line: Gently now, the keepsake that is night Last Line: Now, the blue changing dawn light comes GETTING READY First Line: I split pinon and cottonwood logs this morning Last Line: Our voices, our preparation to become GIFT TO GIVE AND RECEIVE First Line: Let your hands fall open Last Line: It is yours to receive and give. %it is ours to give and receive GRAND CANYON CHRISTMAS EVE 1969 First Line: (later to lie down and sleep, %the earth - surrounded by trees Last Line: Here it is possible %to believe eternity GRANTS TO GALLUP, NEW MEXICO First Line: Grants, okie town, %texans from the oilfields Last Line: West, sometimes I feel like %going on. %west into the sun at evening GREATEST BELIEVERS GREATEST DISBELIEVERS First Line: To believe or not to believe Last Line: No indians? %none. %never GRIEF Last Line: The words from then %talk like that. %believe it Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 HAAWEH SONG First Line: So the haaweh softly comes Last Line: The haaweh comes softly so HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR! First Line: 1 Last Line: Possible for people to dream impossibly of freedom too HAWK Last Line: This man, he knows %what he is doing HE LOOKED TOWARD THE FROZEN CREEK. ALONG THE CREEKBANK Last Line: Thought. They were there somewhere in the winter all around HE WATCHED YELLOW SUNBEAMS BLOOMING ON THE KITCHEN WALL Last Line: A prayer blooming in his spirit HEADLANDS JOURNAL First Line: Tuesday, june 14, 9:15 p.M. Last Line: This time I overheard a tall, blonde, freckled woman with broad shoulders %and an intense manner say HEARTS AND HEARTS First Line: Blue jays and pheasants outdoors Last Line: We come to know as our bond HER STORY ABOUT SAVING HERSELF First Line: The way she tells it %makes me feel wealthy Last Line: And the silver shadows %will stand still for me HERE AND NOW First Line: The thermometer outside the window Last Line: They don't stir. They agree for the moment HESPERUS CAMP, JULY 13, INDIAN 1971 First Line: Marge and susan came up last night Last Line: And the milky starway swept so quietly by %and so far away HEYAASHI GUUTAH First Line: The diaphanous morning cloud %comes %down Last Line: And waits for them, patiently HIHDRUUTSI, IN THE WAY OF MY OWN LANGUAGE THAT IS MY NAME First Line: Hihdruutsi. I am of the eagle people Last Line: Yes, that is the way then you will recognize me HISTORIES, PLACES, INDIANS, JUST LIKE ALWAYS First Line: Freiburg, germany, june 1992 Last Line: The land and now our culture and art too, just like always,' he says HISTORY'S MIDST First Line: After the thursday aa meeting, I walk Last Line: A child again will be born into the midst %of history, his and your history, our history HOPING TO HEAR First Line: Someone knocking Last Line: Just as long as something returns. %anything HORIZONS AND RAINS First Line: Interstate 40 from albuquerque %to gallup Last Line: The horizons %and rains %in the far distance HORSES BY A FENCE First Line: Feeding on dry alfalfa Last Line: But for that, %nothing is there HOT COFFEE AT RON'S IS ALWAYS GOOD. BLACK, STRONG. LAUGHTER Last Line: To use my bathroom!' yes, our laughter HOW CLOSE First Line: I wonder if I have ever come close Last Line: I've thought about it, says coyote HOW MUCH COYOTE REMEMBERED First Line: O, not too much Last Line: And a whole lot. %enough HOW OUR LIVES TURN, BENDING AND BREAKING SOMETIMES, AND Last Line: Feed them. And sometimes, the poor are ourselves. Years it takes HOW TO MAKE A GOOD CHILI STEW - THIS ONE ON JULY 16, A SATURDAY First Line: It's better to do it outside %or at sheepcamp Last Line: Ashes and coals so it was cooked by the time we got back to camp in the evening from herding sheep HOW TO MAKE A GOOD CHILI STEW: AT LAST First Line: Well, my friends, that's all there is to it Last Line: And you can eat now HOW TO MAKE A GOOD CHILI STEW: FURTHER DIRECTIONS TO MAKE SURE IT'S First Line: Don't forget about the chili Last Line: There.' say it with great welcoming and sincerity and I'll betcha they'll come HOW TO MAKE A GOOD CHILI STEW: WAITING FOR IT TO GET ONE First Line: Oh, maybe about two hours for the chili to simmer and then put in the Last Line: It's best to do anytime HUNGER IN NEW YORK CITY First Line: Hunger crawls into you Last Line: Make me cool and humble %bless me HUNGRY QUESTIONS First Line: What does the cosmos %have to do with money? Last Line: And arrive at no answer, still hungry HUNTING FOR STONES First Line: On the shore of flathead lake Last Line: Not perhaps %but precious I DON'T KNOW THOUGH. I MAY SAY THAT I WON'T, THAT I CAN'T. IT'S Last Line: Know that christmas is only fourteen days away I would know I HAVEN'T SEEN HIM FOR YEARS, MAYBE SEVEN. HE STILL HAS THAT Last Line: Such people, because I need such a choice I MAKE PHONE CALLS TODAY FROM HERE TO THE WEST. DISTANCE IS Last Line: The vast and limitless are within the necessary knowledge we have I TELL YOU NOW First Line: I really have no words to match your stride Last Line: Have you come to know me now I TOLD YOU I LIKE INDIANS First Line: You meet indians everywhere Last Line: I told you %you meet indians everywhere I WAKE UP TO A COLD HOUSE. THE WALLS ARE HARD, DENSE, STONY Last Line: Many-colored doves they become and become I'VE FORGOTTEN PART OF THE STORY, BUT I REMEMBER SHE SAID, 'THE Last Line: This is the quilt made from that story,' she said ICICLES FASCINATE ME. THEIR APPEARANCE, THEIR FORMATION, THEIR Last Line: Is locked into an icicle IF THEY COULD HAVE Last Line: Hot steam poured %from red frantic mouths Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 IN 1969 Last Line: It wasn't only the senators. %remember sand creek Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 IN EL PASO MANY BIRTHDAYS AGO First Line: It's like centuries ago now, although as I recall Last Line: And summer ago, is still precious and forever that day IN MY LIFE First Line: Wake up to cold weight invisible Last Line: Mornings in my life, like these IN THE EVENING SEVERAL DAYS AGO, I WENT TO GET THE FROZEN LAUN Last Line: Prairie evening coming rapidly from beyond IN THE MOMENT BEFORE First Line: As he prayed, he thought Last Line: Always for the sake of the land, culture, and community INDIANS SURE CAME IN HANDY First Line: There was a greek %who was the city judge Last Line: And grants just kept on booming INDIANS' WANTED First Line: Real or unreal Last Line: Believe it or not! INSISTENT GENTLE ANIMAL First Line: The winter wind pushes upon the walls Last Line: We don't trust ourselves without INTER-CROSSINGS First Line: Thirty or so deer %on the north side of the road Last Line: These are what we know %of such inter-crossings IRISH POETS ON SATURDAY AND AN INDIAN First Line: We bought each others' drinks Last Line: Will come forth in tongues and fury IRON COUNTY, UTAH 4/4/81 First Line: This morning %the clouds are clearing Last Line: The hills are praying, %I know, like indians IS THE DAYROOM Last Line: Vengeful and a wasteland %of fortunes, for now Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 IT COULDN'T HAVE BEEN MORE THAN FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER. HE Last Line: Gorilla mask. Only a damn bam fool IT DIDN'T MATTER First Line: I don't even recall what they called the patrol that roamed market street Last Line: I was at the end of the world. But it didn't matter; it was only san %francisco IT DOESN'T END, OF COURSE First Line: It doesn't end. %in all growing Last Line: The aches of all years, %it doesn't end IT IS NO LONGER THE SAME AS IT WAS IN THE OLDEN DAYS First Line: Yes, it's true, it is no longer today the same Last Line: That is the way still we must keep on going IT WAS SNOWING IN THE MORNING AND THE WIND WAS BLOWING. Last Line: That was four days ago. Today, I'm still singing IT WAS THAT INDIAN First Line: Martinez %from over by bluewater Last Line: It was that indian who started that boom IT WASN'T MY FATHER WHO TOLD ME THE STORY OF THE MORNING THE Last Line: The sandstone, becoming the memory that is more than story IT WILL COME, IT WILL COME First Line: Haitah muumuu ka %haitah muumuu ka Last Line: We shall know living. %we shall know living IT'S NOT THAT STRANGE BECAUSE WE HAVE BECOME SO USED TO Last Line: That is a measure of our salvation IT'S STRANGELY QUIET, PERHAPS ONLY BECAUSE STORMS HAVE BEEN Last Line: The wind, reprieve for us IT'S THE WAY IT IS, HE THOUGHT. GETTING UP THAT MORNING, HE Last Line: Him, and that is the way it really is sometimes JOHN AND THE MEXICANS IN TRUCHAS First Line: Who knows how we all see each other Last Line: That enjoins us to the universe JOINED First Line: I put sage in every joint' Last Line: The sacredness, sky, and walls joined JOURNEYING First Line: A night's hard journey Last Line: And we don't skip any galaxies JUANITA, WIFE OF MANUELITO First Line: I can see by your eyes Last Line: That is what I want to teach my son JUNCTURE First Line: As I straighten up %from building the fire Last Line: That is the juncture this morning JUST CALL IT SMILING FOR VICTORY First Line: At the federal building, albuquerque Last Line: Just look at all those smiles! KAWESHTIMA SHARING ITS EXISTENCE WITH ME AND ME SHARING MY EXISTENCE First Line: Looking north seeing kaweshtima Last Line: And now it prays its being with me. %and now I share my being with it KEEPING INTACT First Line: Deriving from mission into the crying blizzarding wind Last Line: Shelters us, keeps us intact KEEPING PAIN AND SORROW First Line: Almost midnight and winter so quiet Last Line: And the winter so quiet, the wind at lee KITE First Line: We left the kite unflown Last Line: And watched it sail toward the horizon that was ours KNOWING First Line: It felt like that Last Line: Even as we know it can't be, knowing it could be KNOWING SHADOW AND LIGHT First Line: An old friend %long unheard from Last Line: And we will never quite know KUUTRA TSAH-TSEH-MA SRUTAI-KYUIYAH First Line: Duwah ya-aie dzah Last Line: Duwaah ehme sraupeh tah eh hau srauyuu pehni LA JUNTA Last Line: I am their partner. Them Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 LAKOTA PEOPLE HERE KEEP ASKING ME, 'WELL, HOW DO YOU LIKE Last Line: You have to let it have its own time and presence LAND AND STARS, THE ONLY KNOWLEDGE First Line: North, west, south, and east Last Line: In thankfulness, we give and we know. %in thankfulness, we receive and we know LANGUAGE First Line: I carried my baby daughter to her bed Last Line: The energy it is %and the motion inherent in it LAST NIGHT First Line: New york city almost got me Last Line: Beside the phone and two apple cores LATER ON, I WILL REMEMBER THE GOOD SMELL OF BREAD, FRESH Last Line: Forth. Story has its own life, its very own, and we are the %voice carried with it LAUGHING HORSE First Line: A poet with a laughing horse came to town one day in the early 1970s and Last Line: Laughed and laughed along with the poet and his laughing horse. Of %course! LAW First Line: 1st one Last Line: We're gonna break no matter what LEAVING AMERICA First Line: That time in kansas city bus depot, %met roy Last Line: And pretty girls at a squaw dance. %I know LETTER FROM PT. HOPE First Line: Eat lots of seal oil.' Last Line: And sing songs very, very softly LIGHT First Line: Out to mail a letter at the corner mailbox Last Line: Light of this morning, I am alive, alive with you LIGHTNING: 1 First Line: This evening we are not eager Last Line: Only. It is not affirmed fact LIGHTNING: 3 First Line: Only four miles from okreek Last Line: More than certain of our mortality LIGHTNING: 4 First Line: Why we should keep riding Last Line: Into our trembling yearning selves LIGHTYEARS AND THE PRAIRIE First Line: Somewhere and some time %beyond star reach Last Line: Lightyears and prairie cosmos know LIKE MYSELF, THE SOURCE OF THESE NARRATIVES IS MY HOME First Line: One time, %the kawaikamehtitra - the laguna people Last Line: The plain old smoke-blackened kettle %and they rode away LINGERING IN THE GRIP First Line: Death doesn't have much of a grip Last Line: Of this grip of winter heart and spirit LONG HOUSE VALLEY POEM First Line: Sleep and woman. %the long brown and red land Last Line: And the valley peace, %they are almost gone LONG ROADS First Line: The long roads from here Last Line: Are imbedded in blood-memory LOOK TO THE MOUNTAIN First Line: Always, it shall be this way Last Line: Always it shall be this way LOOKING FOR BILLY Poem Text Last Line: He could be anywhere Subject(s): Seeking LOOKING FOR BILLY Last Line: Looking for shadow, %he could be anywhere Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 LOOKING FOR MORNING BIRDS First Line: The birds nesting %for the winter Last Line: Presently by the birds LOSS AND GRIEF FINDING US First Line: Yesterday, the slightest tremor Last Line: Across everything. But we will hold and hold MAGIC ALWAYS First Line: Red fire on the grate, %magic idea Last Line: And we're alive %with cosmos and cell MAGICAL THING First Line: This, my son %moves his legs, %turns a circle Last Line: His eyes %look for my eyes, %find me %growing strong MAKING AN ACQUAINTANCE First Line: I walk outside without my shoes Last Line: My feet are burning for coolness MAKING QUILTWORK Poem Text First Line: Like the coat of many colors, the letters, scraps Last Line: Like the coat of many colors, the letters, scraps Subject(s): Quilts; Native Americans MAKING QUILTWORK First Line: Like the coat of many colors, the letters, scraps Last Line: Here, look at my clothes, quilts, coats of many colors! MAMA'S AND DADDY'S WORDS First Line: Duwah hahtse dzah. %this is the land Last Line: That's the only way MANY FARMS NOTES First Line: Hawk circles %on wind roads Last Line: One dollar and fifty cents, please.' MANY OF THEM Last Line: The child would be sublime Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 MARGINS WHERE WE LIVE First Line: Overnight, the air froze Last Line: The margins will always be the space %where we live MEANING First Line: The low sun's light is a flat blade Last Line: Under the stirless evening sky now MEANWHILE: SOON THE MILLENNIA: BURNING FORESTS: INDIANS KILLED: First Line: What a strange time it is Last Line: The forests are burning, burning, burning, burning. Smell the smoke. %like now MEETING ON STAGE First Line: Sleek pheasants start crossing the road Last Line: Coming to each other there MID-AMERICA PRAYER Poem Text First Line: Standing again / within and among all things Last Line: Strength, vision, unity and continuance Subject(s): Native Americans - Genealogy & Heritage; Togetherness MID-AMERICA PRAYER First Line: Standing again %within and among all things Last Line: Strength, vision, unity and continuance MIND IS STUNNED STARK Last Line: Stark, I said, %stunned night in the vah Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 MIRROR First Line: We have to expect it will change Last Line: Into the eternal changing that is changeless MISSING THAT INDIAN NAME OF ROY OR RAY First Line: Can't even remember his name Last Line: Missing that indian we left behind %in amarillo MOON AND THE NIGHT First Line: Out with the night Last Line: Desired as a distant night MORE NAMES YOU HAVE THE MORE OF A PERSON YOU BECOME Last Line: Become more of a people than ever before MORE REAL MAGIC First Line: Sunlit pine %snow falls %from a branch Last Line: Snow pine light one %me motion magic one MORE THAN JUST A RIVER First Line: A river is more than just a river Last Line: Yes, a river is more than just a river MORNING BY A LAKESIDE IN MARION COUNTY, S.C. First Line: Dear kathryn and the others, %the young makers and builders Last Line: We owned georgia, alabama, and mississippi.' MORNING PRAYER AND ADVICE FOR A RAINBOWDAUGHTER: ADVICE First Line: Learn how to make good bread, being careful and patient in everything Last Line: This is not all, certainly not all, because there is so much more, and %you will learn that MORNING PRAYER AND ADVICE FOR A RAINBOWDAUGHTER: FOR THIS MORNING First Line: All around, the everything, %trees, horizons, waters, the animals Last Line: Humbling ourselves, we thank you MORNING RADIO: THE WEATHER REPORT SAYS, 'FREEZING RAIN, NO Last Line: News,' whether it is good or bad MORNING STAR First Line: The space before dawn Last Line: Through which we see %and are seen MORNING, THE HORIZON First Line: There were pheasants Last Line: And the blue horizon we will become MORNING: DAWNLIGHT HOLDS STEADY, AND SILENCE DOES NOT BETRAY Last Line: I start to build the morning fire MOUNTAIN/MEMORY First Line: It's the trail MOUNTAINS ALL AROUND First Line: Driving up grant, she hollers Last Line: North, west, south, east, all around, %they are the horizon we're within MUTANT AND WISE First Line: Child %of colonialism Last Line: Waiting for the thunder the coming and %coming and coming MY CHILDREN First Line: Raho and I watched %a cabinet maker working %at wood Last Line: Rainy looks at me. %'a little bird,' I tell her MY CHILDREN, AND A PRAYER FOR US First Line: Raho says, 'you take a feather Last Line: I give it back to you. %thank you MY FATHER SINGING First Line: My father says, %this song, I like it Last Line: Danced this song, %I like it for him.' MY FATHER'S SONG Poem Text First Line: Wanting to say things Last Line: And my father saying things Subject(s): Father MY MOTHER AND MY SISTERS First Line: My oldest sister wears thick glasses Last Line: But I don't know %what my age was then.' NEAR AND EVIDENT SIGN First Line: It could be a signal Last Line: The signal we receive, %welcoming its return NEVER FULFILLED First Line: The skill it must take Last Line: Unable to choose. No one knew what happened NEVER THE MOMENT UNTIL NOW First Line: Every day we drive Last Line: Will never be known until now %not ever again NEWSPAPER CITES A TRAGEDY, WHAT COULD IT BE CALLED BUT Last Line: Anguish, loss, what could it be called but tragedy NEZ WANTED TO BREAK IN Poem Text Last Line: We're people, not like them Subject(s): Native Americans NEZ WANTED TO BREAK IN Last Line: We're people, not like them Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 NIGHT HORSES First Line: Quickly before my breath knows Last Line: Our knowledge of the greater dark of dark NIGHT WINTER First Line: Right before we go to bed last night Last Line: Good morning, sun. Thank you, and good morning, my life! NO CHOICE Poem Text First Line: There is no choice Subject(s): Politics & Government; War NO CHOICE First Line: There is no choice Last Line: We must live %we must live Subject(s): Politics; War NO WEATHER MAP First Line: Poems are not weather reports Last Line: And the place I see; this is poetry %and the design my journey needs NO, THE STORY IS THIS WAY First Line: Aliyosho had to get to the rey's house Last Line: And I'm quite fast enough. I can help you.' NOT BY ANY CHANCE First Line: The corner of burnside and union is not the edge of the world. Car traffic Last Line: And through the screen window drifts the smell of indian woods and %smoke NOT KNOWING AND KNOWING First Line: I don't know how wild horse island was lost,' Last Line: Julie knows after all. I do not leave; I cannot. I stay %bound by the absolute and loving beauty of NOT SOMEWHERE ELSE First Line: But this is salt lake city, utah Last Line: I don't know what you're talking about.' NOTES FOR MY CHILD First Line: Wake slow this morning Last Line: They will come. %child, they will come NOTES ON THE STEPS OF THE DAN DIEGO BUS DEPOT Poem Text First Line: Across the street Last Line: But I need a few surprises badly Subject(s): Bus Terminals; Piercy, Marge (1936-1982) NOTES ON THE STEPS OF THE SAN DIEGO BUS DEPOT First Line: Across the street %america is putting together Last Line: But I need a few surprises badly NOTHING AND EVERYTHING First Line: For three nights the moon Last Line: Our hearts, the moons we've always been NOTHING BUT ETERNITY First Line: Nh...Kiss.' Last Line: Nothing. Nothing. There is only an eternity of silence holding me NOTHING TO DO WITH HALLEY First Line: We are ice and stone, %fire and air Last Line: By all of us coming into being NOTION OF TIME First Line: The sun is on the southern horizon Last Line: That is the horizon moving into us O WHITMAN Poem Text First Line: O whitman, he was wrong Subject(s): Whitman, Walt (1819-1891); United States O WHITMAN Last Line: Did he sorrow? %did he laugh? %did he, did he? Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 OLD HILLS First Line: West of ocotillo wells, %the hills are pretty old Last Line: And the cool fresh green winds ON LATE-NIGHT TELEVISION, TWO U.S. SCIENTISTS TALK ABOUT WHY Last Line: And then will they know?' ON THIS DAY First Line: The electronic mechanics and wizardry Last Line: My eyes, in this one moment, one event, all these things, all %these are one ONCE, IT MUST HAVE BEEN IN THE SUMMER OF 1971 IN COLORADO Last Line: Having come gladly to know my continuance ONE MORNING, ONE WINTER HE GOT UP. ACCORDING TO HIS ROLE Last Line: Amoo-uh my father. Beloved my father ONE SCAR I FEEL MORE First Line: Scars. %hair turning white Last Line: The latent motion %that will go wrong ORDINARY MOMENTS First Line: Jim bob is already out this hour Last Line: Weather, gumbo, horses, winter, trucks, today ORIGINS First Line: Three pheasant cocks %and two hens Last Line: Considering origins %and what we're told OUR CHILDREN WILL NOT BE AFRAID First Line: It will at last be the children's, their own destiny-- Last Line: And they will come to know it will not be the thieves, killers, liars %but our people who will have OUR EAGERNESS BLOOMS First Line: In the shadows beyond the creek Last Line: Snow hides into shadow, and we bloom OUR HOMELAND, A NATIONAL SACRIFICE AREA First Line: It was only the second day, %and I was on my way home Last Line: Destruction of land and people, we will win. We will win OUR NAMES First Line: Our names are our struggles Last Line: Our names are our own OUT THERE First Line: The prairie ridge %to the west Last Line: The wild sway holds %me on the ridge too OUT THERE' First Line: Morning is memorized just once Last Line: Is what we seek and find in the howl OUT TO TSAILE LAKE First Line: By the lakeside, %there was a woman and a man Last Line: Maybe I have better luck with fish PAIN First Line: Sometimes there's the slow Last Line: And just sit and listen.' PART OF THE DAY SPENT WRAPPING CHRISTMAS GIFTS MAKES ME SAD Last Line: Remorse has not been so overly urgent as I begin to fix supper PASSING THROUGH LITTLE ROCK First Line: The old indian ghosts Last Line: And hear the noise it makes %at birth PAST POEMS First Line: Where are the indians in this crummy town? Last Line: Who would have told me where all the indians were PATIENCE POEM FOR THE CHILD THAT IS ME First Line: Be patient child, %be patient, quiet Last Line: Be patient, child, %quiet PAUSE: YOURS: OURS First Line: Just pausing,' she writes from wyoming Last Line: A space to let yourself be held within. %a space and moment that is PERCEPTION OF CHANGE IN THE SEASON'S WEATHER IS DEFINITE. THE Last Line: Know illusion and the lie PICTURE First Line: I want to show you a picture which is the story in this poem Last Line: Califor-ni-ya-aa-ah %let us go-oh PLACES WE HAVE BEEN: INDIANHEAD BAY First Line: I wrote a poem with kennebek river Last Line: My head probably as I said PLACES WE HAVE BEEN: ITHACA, NEW YORK First Line: On the way to buffalo we got lost Last Line: On ahead on a far and wearied bourbon %trip to sleep PLACES WE HAVE BEEN: NORTHERN MAINE First Line: There was a mountain toward canada Last Line: And I was too far away, alone PLACES WE HAVE BEEN: UPSTATE First Line: Coming from montreal, %we stopped at a roadside place Last Line: And bothered by new england indian ghosts PLACES WE HAVE BEEN: VADA'S IN CUBA, NEW MEXICO First Line: I wrote her a small poem about this Last Line: And where we went after we left POEM FOR JODY ABOUT LEAVING First Line: I was telling you %about the red cliff faces Last Line: And you don't ever want to go %but do anyway POEMS FROM THE VETERANS HOSPITAL POEMS FROM THE VETERANS HOSPITAL: 8:50 AM FT. LYONS VAH First Line: The wisconsin horse hears the geese Last Line: And it becomes %the immense sky POEMS FROM THE VETERANS HOSPITAL: ALONG THE ARKANSAS RIVER First Line: I walk down to the river Last Line: That's probably where coyote is POEMS FROM THE VETERANS HOSPITAL: CHERRY PIE First Line: We had barbecue beef on buns Last Line: And it's hard to lose those POEMS FROM THE VETERANS HOSPITAL: DAMN HARD First Line: Today I remembered %the good buckhorn pocket knife I lost too Last Line: He said and, knowing, we all laughed. %yeah, it sure is POEMS FROM THE VETERANS HOSPITAL: FOR A TAOS MAN HEADING SOUTH First Line: Thunder, %the sound from above Last Line: Be strong now, be strong and good with yourself POEMS FROM THE VETERANS HOSPITAL: LOOKING, LOOKING First Line: This morning, looking %out the south windows of the day room Last Line: He keeps looking south, looking, looking POEMS FROM THE VETERANS HOSPITAL: SUPERCHIEF First Line: Superchief left on friday Last Line: Staring at the cement beneath his shoes POEMS FROM THE VETERANS HOSPITAL: TEETH First Line: After supper, fuentes tells stories Last Line: Sonofagun, and that guy is still on that run.' POEMS FROM THE VETERANS HOSPITAL: TRAVELING First Line: A man has been in the vah library all day long Last Line: Traveling the known and unknown places, %traveling, traveling POEMS FROM THE VETERANS HOSPITAL: TWO OLD MEN First Line: I've seen this old man around. Today as I was walking on the dike Last Line: A very few know, and that is your strength, %your aloneness POEMS I HAVE LOST First Line: She said to take the l-train to Last Line: Many, many times %these are enough POET First Line: Are you really a poet?' Last Line: How long you been a cricket?' PORTRAIT OF A POET WITH A CONSOLE TV IN HAND Poem Text First Line: I bought that tv at john's tv Last Line: That it must have to do with an odd madness Subject(s): Television; Bus Terminals PORTRAIT OF A POET WITH A CONSOLE TV IN HAND First Line: I bought that tv at john's tv Last Line: That it must have to do with an odd madness POSSIBILITY First Line: The old man could have told them Last Line: He couldn't believe it, but it was possible POUT First Line: Daughter %sits straddle-legged Last Line: And pout my mouth %in sympathy and love PRAIRIE CHANGING PRAYER First Line: The small animals across the prairie must wait too Last Line: Only that, the animals and the core in the margin PRAIRIE NIGHT SONG First Line: The song could be the slope of a hill Last Line: Deeply into a welcoming core of the spirit PRAIRIE'S SONG First Line: More than anything else Last Line: This prayer is not hidden but chanted %and certain as the prairie's song PRAY FIRST THEN First Line: Dawn, oopuh, oopuh Last Line: With motion thus, prayer PRAYER-RAIN IS HERE First Line: Tuesday rain, morning, and blue light Last Line: But, right now, it's here, a lakota prayer-rain PRETTY WOMAN First Line: We came to the edge %of the mesa Last Line: Smiling at us %looking at her PROBABLY Last Line: Before us as mutant generations Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 PROMISE WE LIVE BY First Line: On the west coast, days of rainstorm wrestle Last Line: Never mind if the sky does not quite agree QUICK First Line: The wet tall grass and weeds QUIET First Line: Your child's birth. %urgent. Noise Last Line: In wonder. %in quiet. %in awe RADIO REPORT OF DOWNTOWN WINNER AT 10 DEGREES ABOVE Last Line: Item on radio and tv, but we know the sheer cold fact of it now RAIN First Line: Bill and I stand in the rain smoking Last Line: And then looks at me and bill, and he asks, %'how did you indian guys make it?' RAY'S STORY First Line: Up at the mill %all us guys wanted to get off Last Line: Used to wonder outloud about poor lacey's wife REDEMPTION SLIPPING AWAY First Line: This is mid-america, a dream Last Line: Until no forgiveness will be their redemption RELOCATION First Line: Don't talk me no words. %don't frighten me Last Line: I am lonely for hills. %I am lonely for myself RESPECT AND RECOGNITION First Line: Morning fire flares easily Last Line: We would not know continuance RETURNED FROM CALIFORNIA First Line: At the park %yesterday afternoon Last Line: Like spring crows, %and they scatter RETURNING IT BACK, YOU WILL GO ON First Line: Corporate power companies %from the east and from the west Last Line: And they will have risen. %they will have risen RIGHT INSTINCT First Line: Yesterday afternoon, bravely Last Line: Nothing else to know but to turn back RIVERS AND WINTER KNOWING First Line: Yesterday, coming from the north Last Line: The rivers know and winter knows RUNNING AND FEAR First Line: Within my knee, the pain's inner animal heart Last Line: The fear is not wasted for we know after all %how humbly we are driven to acceptance SALVATION First Line: Jim bob, the rancher on the hill Last Line: Brutally driven, I think, is not our salvation SAN DIEGO POEM: JANUARY - FEBRUARY 1973: SHUDDERING First Line: The plane lifts off the ground Last Line: Is much like breaking away from it SAN DIEGO POEM: JANUARY - FEBRUARY 1973: THE JOURNEY BEGINS First Line: My son tells his aunt, %'you take a feather Last Line: And to continue safely and humbly %you pray Variant Title(s): A San Diego Poem: January-february 1973: The Journey Begin SAN DIEGO POEM: JANUARY - FEBRUARY 1973: UNDER L.A. INTERNATIONAL First Line: Numbed by the anesthesia of jet flight Last Line: And become the silent burial. There are no echoes Variant Title(s): A San Diego Poem: January-february 1973: Under L.a. International Air SAN DIEGO POEM: JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1973: SHUDDERING First Line: The plane lifts off the ground Last Line: Is much like breaking away from it SAVAGE AND ANIMAL YEARNING First Line: Already there is more light in the morning Last Line: For what we seek and for what we yearn SAVAGE DREAM First Line: The destiny of stars Last Line: For believing in a real dream SCENE IS SHOWN ON TELEVISION OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN Last Line: Repeats it over and over and over again SEARCHING First Line: In a patch of brown weeds Last Line: Crosses the road below the hilltop house SEED First Line: He looked at the seed for a long time Last Line: The seed that stood before his eyes as a tiny monument %of new life, the beginning that would flower SERENITY IN STONES First Line: I am holding this turquoise Last Line: In my hands, in my eyes, and in myself Subject(s): Stones SIGNIFICANCE OF A VETERAN'S DAY First Line: I happen to be a veteran Last Line: To survive insignificance Subject(s): Native Americans SILENCE. QUIET First Line: Sparrows %skittering noisily Last Line: Not real, only certain. %forever SKY IS BRILLIANT Last Line: Into its defensive walls. O look, now Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 SKY IS PANNED Poem Text Last Line: Around steering wheel Subject(s): Memory SKY IS PANNED Last Line: As knuckles %around gunstock %around steering wheel Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 SMALL THINGS TODAY First Line: Had a tortilla with some honey Last Line: Rex doesn't like chicken livers, %but gizzards are okay SMOKING MY PRAYERS First Line: Now that I have lighted my smoke SNOWY MOUNTAIN SONG First Line: I like her like that Last Line: Look, the snowy mountain SO IT HAPPENED. IT COULD HAVE BEEN ONLY A STORY, JUST A STORY Last Line: Remember that old man asking, 'and then will they know?' SOME INDIANS AT A PARTY First Line: Where you from?' Last Line: That's my name too. %don't you forget it SOMEHOW Last Line: Warriors could have passed %into their young blood Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 SOMETIMES IT'S BETTER TO LAUGH 'HONEST INJUN' First Line: You're indian aren't you? This slim man Last Line: My deep relief. And it's all true SOUND, YOURS First Line: Deeper than echo %despite vacuum and cold Last Line: It is borne by you SOUTH AND WEST First Line: A diesel truck roars past us Last Line: Into the white, blue-ing distance SPARROWS First Line: In the fireworks Last Line: Sparrows with us %once and forever SPEAKING First Line: I take him outside %under the trees Last Line: They listen to this boy %speaking for me SPREADING WINGS ON WIND First Line: I must remember %that I am only one part Last Line: Flame, and then silence, %just the clouds forming SPRING First Line: He told her what he was going to do Last Line: When the police came, he stood outside the door. The spring loaded and %ready STARTING AT THE BOTTOM First Line: The truth is, %most of us didn't know Last Line: And weekends, that city jail %was still full STATE'S CLAIM...' First Line: It was beloved old man clay who used to say Last Line: American railroads, electric lines, gas lines, highways, %phone companies, cable tv STATE'S CLAIM...': CABLE TV First Line: As far as I know, no one at aacqu Last Line: I better learn something about it STATE'S CLAIM...': ELECTRIC LINES First Line: At first, the electric lines ran Last Line: I probably told them some lie STATE'S CLAIM...': GAS LINES First Line: The el paso natural gas pipeline Last Line: Nobody and nothing could stop it coming through STATE'S CLAIM...': HIGHWAYS First Line: In 1952, the felipe brothers led nash garcia Last Line: The people planted there, on the south STATE'S CLAIM...': PHONE COMPANY First Line: My cousin who was working for a uranium Last Line: Telephone operators are exasperated with me even now STATE'S CLAIM...': RAILROADS First Line: My father explained it to me this way Last Line: On the official state maps STATE'S CLAIM...': RIGHT OF WAY First Line: The elder people at home do not understand Last Line: That is the only way. %that is the only way STELLAR TENDRILS First Line: The roots still hold us Last Line: For us, and we must hold STORIES, WORDS FINDING THEIR WAY First Line: Today, here within the moment of this day Last Line: Better off this time, ending and beginning STORM First Line: A young indian in sioux falls Last Line: Only man's rage continues to storm STORMING TOWARD A PRECIPICE Poem Text First Line: A diesel freight truck Last Line: Is a precipice, no mirage Subject(s): Trucks & Truckers; Danger STORMING TOWARD A PRECIPICE First Line: A diesel freight truck %roars toward us Last Line: Is a precipice, no mirage STORY OF COURAGE First Line: By the highway out of mission, going south Last Line: Okay, let's say, this is his courageous story STORY OF HOW A WALL STANDS First Line: My father, who works with stone Last Line: The wall that stands a long, long time STRANGE First Line: April 9, 1999, 9:15 a.M. Last Line: Strange... %nebraska, south dakota, elsewhere... STUFF: CHICKENS AND BOMBS First Line: Wiley, from arkansas, %and I worked a couple times %in yellowcake Last Line: I don't know what the hell else %you could do with them.' SUMMER CHEATS Last Line: Ghosts indian-like %still driven %towards oklahoma Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 SUN PRAYER First Line: Look, the sun! %for some brief moments Last Line: The need, these moments. %sun needs prayer SURPRISE First Line: On friday we passed %through mountains Last Line: Surprises, I like to learn %from them when I'm clear SURVIVAL Poem Text First Line: Survival, I know how this way Last Line: We shall survive this way Subject(s): Native Americans; Migration; Survival SURVIVAL IN THE COLD DARK First Line: 9 p,m. Jim bob and his wife Last Line: Of hunching into the cold dark TELEVISION NEWS THIS EARLY MORNING IS ABOUT THE PHILIPPINES AND Last Line: It's in the knowledge itself the fault lies. Freedom is killed, and %the killers are alive TELLING ABOUT COYOTE First Line: Old coyote... %'if he hadn't looked back Last Line: He'll be back. Don't worry. %he'll be back TELLING AND SHOWING HER First Line: Duwah ya-aie dzah. This is the dirt Last Line: This is what I am showing and telling you. %this is what I am telling and showing you TEN O'CLOCK NEWS IN THE AMERICAN MIDWEST First Line: Bernstein disc jockey tells Last Line: On the ten o'clock news Variant Title(s): Ten O'clock New TEXAN Last Line: Trade poor comfort, receive, %shuffle, and dodge the exile Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 THANKING THE PHEASANT HENS First Line: Five pheasant hens %cross the road in front of me Last Line: To notice. Staiidzee, all these THANKSGIVING DAY: GOING TO GET WOOD IN THE COLD GARAGE, I Last Line: Thank you even for the televised parades from new york city and philadelphia THAT TIME First Line: Agnes' aunt killed the goat Last Line: That was that time THAT'S THE PLACE INDIANS TALK ABOUT First Line: At a meeting in california I was talking with an elder paiute man Last Line: That's the place indian people talk about THE MARGINS WHERE WE LIVE BY Poem Text First Line: Overnight, the air froze Last Line: "the margins will always be the space Subject(s): Native Americans; Conduct Of Life THE MIND IS STUNNED STARK Poem Text Last Line: Stunned night in the vah Subject(s): Native Americans – Wars THE SERENITY IN STONES Poem Text First Line: I am holding this turquoise Subject(s): Stones; Granite; Rocks THE SIGNIFICANCE OF A VETERAN'S DAY Poem Text First Line: I happen to be a veteran Subject(s): Native Americans; Indians Of America; American Indians; Indians Of South America THE WISCONSIN HORSE Poem Text First Line: One step at a time to return Subject(s): Animals; Horses THEIR GIFT First Line: Delighted to show us Last Line: To moments of our own simplicity %and to savor simpler knowledge once more THERE IS ALWAYS THE MOMENT OF SILENCE. NO MOTION. JUST THE Last Line: Circle. Within this, the silence THERE SHOULD BE Poem Text First Line: There should be / moments of true terror Last Line: Who would enjoy the rain Subject(s): Terror THERE SHOULD BE Last Line: The future should hold them %secret, hidden and profound Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 THERE WAS A MAN Last Line: Like his anger, %amazed %and dismayed Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 THERE'S A BRIGHT PRAIRIE SUN BUT THE WIND JUST DOESN'T NOTICE. IT Last Line: Do. Be blue, go oooooo ooo oooooo even the sun's gonna get blue THEY COME AROUND, THE WOLVES - AND COYOTE AND CROW, TOO First Line: I told you about those wolves Last Line: One can't be too choosey,' said crow THEY CROSSED COUNTRY Poem Text Last Line: Memory / was not to be trusted Subject(s): Memory; Travel THEY CROSSED COUNTRY Last Line: Aimlessly, they crossed memory Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 THEY MUST HAVE FELT Last Line: They became so selflessly righteous Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 THEY MUST HAVE KNOWN Last Line: If they had only acknowledged %even their smallest conceit Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 THEY WERE AMAZED Last Line: Their helpless hands %were like sieves Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 THEY WERE SIMPLE ENOUGH Last Line: And, finally, complex liars. %and thieves Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 THIS AMERICA Last Line: Rising %from sand creek Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 THIS IS THE WAY STILL WE SHALL GO ON First Line: It is necessary to look back to the past Last Line: Always it will be good and beautiful, it will be THIS MORNING THE SUN WILL BE LATE. IT WILL TAKE ITS TIME. LIGHT' Last Line: And sisters knowing the light again THIS OCCURS TO ME First Line: It has something to do %with intuition and instinct Last Line: Together, my father tells me %how walls are built THIS OR THIS First Line: Telling the story, wahpepah says Last Line: And then he said, 'or this.'' THIS PREPARATION First Line: These sticks I am holding THIS SONG: BEATING THE HEARTBEAT First Line: Before my father returned %to the continuing earth life Last Line: We shall know living. %we shall know living THREE DAYS BEFORE SPRING, SNOW AGAIN First Line: It's still snowing Last Line: Spring doesn't have a chance THREE. ON TUESDAY, HALMI AND I WERE SUDDENLY HALTED IN OUR Last Line: Daylight, law and god standing by. %these were only three THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 1994 First Line: Thin, thin metal Last Line: Illness is illness, edges are edges, %and ourselves to be ourselves TIME AND MOTION AND SPACE First Line: I told barbara, %'when I was a kid Last Line: I'm not just making it up.' TIME AND PLACE IN SONG First Line: From yesterday %the luminescent forms of buffalo Last Line: That is not blood of history TIME AS MEMORY AS STORY Poem Text Subject(s): Time; Native Americans; Family Life; Indians Of America; American Indians; Indians Of South America; Relatives TIME AS MEMORY AS STORY First Line: Let's say it's half a century later Last Line: Let's say it is ever an ongoing story TIME TO KILL IN GALLUP First Line: City streets %are barren Last Line: The people will rise TO & FRO Poem Text First Line: On the train to california Subject(s): Native Americans; Indians Of America; American Indians; Indians Of South America TO & FRO First Line: On the train to california Last Line: In summer morning fields Subject(s): Native Americans TO BE First Line: The sun blazes fiercely at midday Last Line: For it all to be whole TO CHANGE IN A GOOD WAY First Line: Bill and ida %lived in the mobile home park Last Line: Bill smiled and then chuckled with ida TO GATHER THEM WITH LOVE First Line: Just over the prairie hills Last Line: And men back into the sacred life TO HERE, WE RETURN First Line: This prairie could lose us Last Line: When we have to and shall return TO INSURE SURVIVAL Poem Text First Line: You come forth Subject(s): Ancestors & Ancestry; Heritage; Heredity TO INSURE SURVIVAL First Line: You come forth Last Line: Child, they will come Subject(s): Ancestors And Ancestry TO PLANT AGAIN First Line: Sometimes I take a walk to the garden we used to have Last Line: Sometimes I take a walk to the garden we will come to plant again TO SEE THE PRAIRIE SUN First Line: Almost mid-morning %and the sun is so low Last Line: I have to bend down to see it TOBY IS SICK Last Line: Closely %toby tends his shadow Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 TODAY, THE A-TRAIN, 168TH TO 14TH First Line: ...The a-train shakes bad %for this indian Last Line: I was supposed to meet you TOMORROW ACROSS THE PRAIRIE Last Line: Of buffalo arriving on the dawn TONIGHT, A MAN IN A GREEN COAT AND A GORILLA MASK HELD UP A Last Line: Mas, in fact three weeks before christmas, folks go crazy TOO FAST AT 45 MPH First Line: From here to there %we quiver on loose skin Last Line: For my sake, hoping for it %to be dependable enough TOO LATE First Line: Late, late night Last Line: Nothing almost can save us TOW WOMEN First Line: She is a navajo woman sitting at her loom Last Line: Crack sharply on the heavy stone TOWARD SPIDER SPRINGS First Line: I was amazed %at the wall of stones Last Line: They were just stones %balancing against the sky TRADERS WHO DEALT Last Line: Even winter %knows no such sorrow. %whiskey end. %poisoned Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 TRANSCRIBING First Line: The act is to remember Last Line: More than any other time %the imperative not to lose TRAVELED ALL THE WAY TO NEW YORK CITY First Line: How are you? %fine, and you? Last Line: Laughing, it's so good to laugh TRAVELS IN THE SOUTH: 1. EAST TEXAS Poem Text First Line: When I left the alabama-coushatta people Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; U.s. - Race Relations TRAVELS IN THE SOUTH: 1. EAST TEXAS First Line: When I left the alabama-coushatta people Last Line: It would be the morning, the sun Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; U.s. - Race Relations TRAVELS IN THE SOUTH: 2. THE CREEK NATION EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI Poem Text First Line: Once, in a story, I wrote that indians are everywhere Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; U.s. - Race Relations TRAVELS IN THE SOUTH: 2. THE CREEK NATION EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI First Line: Once, in a story, I wrote that indians are everywhere Last Line: No stopping except in case of emergency %and hugged a tree Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; U.s. - Race Relations TRAVELS IN THE SOUTH: 3. CROSSING THE GEORGIA BORDER INTO FLORIDA Poem Text First Line: I worried about my hair, kept my car locked Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; U.s. - Race Relations TRAVELS IN THE SOUTH: 3. CROSSING THE GEORGIA BORDER INTO FLORIDA First Line: I worried about my hair, kept my car locked Last Line: And I didn't blame them Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; U.s. - Race Relations TSEGI CANYON First Line: Motel %at the edge of stone Last Line: It will not be the last %place, words, or motel TWO ACOMA PICTURES: LITTLE WREN I NEED A SONG First Line: Little wren, this morning quickly Last Line: Sun will rise from chuska horizon TWO ACOMA PICTURES: TWO WOMEN AT THE NORTHERN CISTERN First Line: Tadpole says, %where were you last night Last Line: Here, drink from my well TWO COYOTE ONES First Line: I remember that one about coyote Last Line: And you can tell afterall UNCLE JOSE First Line: My sister, myrna, said, %'keithy didn't have an acoma name Last Line: And we were allowed to eat salt again UNDERNEATH ALL THIS FEBRUARY SNOW, THE PRAIRIE HILLS URGE TINY Last Line: Hoped eagerly for, that he was searching for VALLEY OF THE SUN First Line: Where's the sun that feels so good? Last Line: There are these stories VIOLENCE Last Line: Free and hollow, a cold glistening Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 VIOLENCE IS EVEN Last Line: Already avengers %fore-running justice, %to colorado Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 VISION OF FINEWORK First Line: The road on the hills above okreek Last Line: Always capable of not much more than that VISION SHADOWS First Line: Wind visions are honest Last Line: Or repair the flight of eagle, our own brother VITAL MARGINS First Line: Bitter cold margins of wind flowing Last Line: Story helps. We live the margins we've sen VOYAGE TO HAVEN First Line: Safe haven %in this dark night Last Line: Now we come to this, %the dark haven WAITING FOR A FRIEND First Line: It's their business what they do Last Line: It's awful %how honest we have to be in trust at last WAKING First Line: Woke early this morning, %old morning moonlight Last Line: All the way into the sky.' WALKING TOWARD WINNER YESTERDAY, TRYING TO HITCH A RIDE, I Last Line: The long silence would be a long sleep, longer than anything %else, I thought WAR POEM; OCT. 15, MORATORIUM DAY First Line: Santo domingo, demrep, march 1965. %I took part, attached Last Line: I think of the harmony possible Subject(s): Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 WASHYUMA MOTOR HOTEL Poem Text First Line: Beneath the cement foundations Subject(s): Native Americans; Indians Of America; American Indians; Indians Of South America WASHYUMA MOTOR HOTEL First Line: Beneath the cement foundations Last Line: And jokes and laugh and laugh Subject(s): Native Americans WATCHING SALMON JUMP First Line: It was you: %I could have crawled Last Line: So that our children may survive WATCHING THE ICE First Line: We pick up white horse again Last Line: We wave, balancing ourselves WATCHING YOU First Line: I watch you %from the gentle slope Last Line: And I have known you well WE AND THE LIGHT First Line: It changes just like that. One moment the sun Last Line: For the image that will catch us again moments away WE DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO SOMETIMES. EVEN WITH THE DEAR Last Line: Our sanity. It's a kind of security, the ambiguity WE HAVE BEEN TOLD MANY THINGS BUT WE KNOW THIS TO BE TRUE First Line: The land. The people. %they are in relation to each other Last Line: But we know this to be true: %the land and the people WE LUNGE TOWARD IT, DRIVING A LITTLE COMPACT CAR, SUCH A POOR Last Line: Lunging toward the falling light WELCOME TO AMERICA THE MALL First Line: This is the mall Last Line: Welcome. %because we're within it WHAT I KNOW First Line: Things don't always have to be on the edge Last Line: And I'm still nearing or drawing away from it %this is my choice. This is what I know WHAT I MEAN First Line: Agee. I don't mean that agee Last Line: That's what we mean WHAT I TELL HIM First Line: I take my son outside Last Line: That's what I tell him WHAT I WOULD WANT First Line: Ryan tells of two boys Last Line: That survives these winter hills WHAT INDIANS? Poem Text First Line: "the truth is: ""no kidding?"" ""no."" ""come on! That can't be true!"" ""no kidding." Last Line: Number or need for number we/they are people like you and just like me Subject(s): Native Americans WHAT INDIANS? First Line: The truth is: 'no kidding?' 'no.' 'come on! That can't be true!' 'no Last Line: Of a centered human self and the weakening and loss of indigenous %cultural identity WHAT IS A POEM? Poem Text First Line: Picture a man going from place Subject(s): Poetry & Poets WHAT IS A POEM? First Line: Picture a man going from place Last Line: What is a poem but that WHAT JOY SAID ON TWO OCCASIONS First Line: One of our neighbors is a young man Last Line: That I felt lonely for all those things %I haven't done lately WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN Poem Text Last Line: Nameless / namelessness Subject(s): Manifest Destiny (doctrine) WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN Last Line: And became remorseless %nameless %namelessness Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 WHAT WE COME TO KNOW First Line: When I begin to cook Last Line: And what we come to know WHAT WE KNOW First Line: So where were the indians? Last Line: The same: %the people, human beings, you, me WHEN ALIYSOHO AND CABALLO PINTO APPROACHED THE REY'S Last Line: Pinto trotted toward the rey's beautiful pueblo in the valley WHEN IS IT ENOUGH? First Line: The gas goes off. %we're cold Last Line: When it is enough... %will it happen? WHEN IT WAS TAKING PLACE First Line: This morning, the sun has risen Last Line: When it was taking place.' WHEN WE RETURN TO OKREEK, THE LITTLE LAKOTA VILLAGE SECURE IN Last Line: The stars are not so far away WIND AND GLACIER VOICES First Line: Laguna man said, %I only heard that glacier scraping Last Line: - a longing, whispering, %prophetic %voice WIND DOESN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO BUT BE BLUE First Line: The wind is blue %this morning Last Line: That's what I'll do. %that's what I'll dooooo WINDTRAILS CARVED IN SNOWBANKS. SNOWBANKS SCULPTED LIKE Last Line: Prairie, and it can only return to us WINTER CHANGING First Line: Beyond the window glass, only the dark Last Line: In a dark wonder and awe of the spirit WINTER IS OVER, I CAN FEEL IT, AND I FEEL A SADNESS FOR ITS GOING Last Line: Of all time. And I am only a man joined with winter turning toward spring WINTER MORNING AND ME First Line: Only the light doubles itself Last Line: Itself on the glass panes - I said WISCONSIN HORSE First Line: One step at a time to return Last Line: Woman anger and courage risen as the people's voice again Subject(s): Animals; Horses WISCONSIN HORSE First Line: One step at a time to return Last Line: Will soon go away %and the meaningfulness enter WITHIN THE CIRCLE ALWAYS First Line: Shadows lengthen across the snow Last Line: Without the song even, we are within WITHOUT YOU First Line: What to do without you %is night madness Last Line: Your shadowed figure %come swimming homeward WOMAN DREAMER: SLENDER OAK WOMAN First Line: A pretty girl lent me some typing paper Last Line: Of herself, is running running WOMAN, THIS INDIAN WOMAN First Line: O, I miss you so lonely. %aiee, it aches Last Line: I remember her well WORDS STUMBLE Poem Text Last Line: The magpie is determined / to freeze Subject(s): Magpies WORDS STUMBLE Last Line: The magpie is determined to freeze Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 YESTERDAY, THE FEW SUNNY DAYS WERE GONE, GONE SUDDENLY Last Line: Prairie land, warm and welcoming, and I cling to it for dear life YOU Last Line: Did not know how %they were patriots Subject(s): Cheyene Indians - Wars; Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado, 1864; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 YOU KNOW, COYOTE YOUR ETERNITY First Line: More than all the years Last Line: Of loving and caring and courage %and patience YOUR LIFE YOU ARE CARRYING First Line: This is the dirt Last Line: This is what I am telling and showing you YUUSTHIWA First Line: Whenever people are driving along and stop Last Line: He said it,' my father says |
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