Soon to be a National Geographic Special

Soon to be a National Geographic Special


All the Indian boys in the world
gathered into one red Toyota Celica
or perhaps it was just Steve, Tom, and me
though, truthfully speaking, it wasn't Tom

at all. In fact, in was his brother, Dan, but I want
to place Tom in the Celica with Steve
and me because Tom killed himself
a few years back, and I miss him.

I want to remember him
in some poem, in this particular poem
because I am a poet now, though
I wasn't a poet back then. Of course

Tom wasn't a poet and he wasn't
an Indian either, which means his brother
wasn't Indian, and Steve was only
a little bit Indian himself, but he grew up

on the reservation, and therfore
was a full Indian pretty much
by osmosis. So, now, to reiterate, the Toyota
was filled with all the Indian boys

in the world (meaning there was one
white boy who was only there
metaphorically, one mostly white boy
made Indian by association, and one

true and actual Indian boy), as the auto sped
through the reservation night, as
it insulted the cold air with the heat
of its arrival and passage, as we Indian boys

laughed at the impossibility
of the Northern Lights, as the Great Barn Owl
swooped down over the road, its epic wings
stretching from ditch to ditch, its epic wings

striking flames as it roared directly
toward all of the Indian boys
in the world, as Steve slammed
on the brakes, or more likely, it was Tom

who slammed on the brakes (meaning
that his brother Dan slammed
on the brakes) as the Great Barn Owl flew
just a few feet above the pavement

as it grew so large and impossible
in the headlights, as all of the Indian boys
in the world, in the Toyota Celica, decided
they were going to die, die, die

as that Great Barn Owl suddenly lifted
into the air, just barely avoiding
a terrible head-on collision, as the three of us
ducked our heads in reflex, as we turned

to look behind us, turned to look
at our past, at our future, as we turned to see
that Great Barn Owl disapper
somewhere behind the poker-faced moon.


Sherman Alexie...........from One Stick Song