Powwow Love Songs

Powwow Love Songs


1.

"Mating birds and mating Indians are the same," says
a white friend as we watch the handsome fancydancers
in their red, yellow, orange and blue feathers.
"It's the men who wear the brightest colors."

2.

When I want an Indian woman to notice me, I wear a red
shirt that smells like a powwow:
campfire smoke, fry bread smoke, burning tobacco smoke,
burning sage smoke, burning sweetgrass smoke,
burning barrel smoke, marijuana smoke, wildfire smoke,
fircracker smoke, singed hair smoke,
car fire smoke, smoked salmon smoke, dashboard lighter smoke,
friction-between-two-bodies smoke.

3.

At the powwow, my cousin Steve, wearing a red shirt,
climbed into the camper with a beautiful Indian woman
nameed Fawn (they were all named Fawn in those days) and
told me to guard the door.
By the light of the campfire, I peered through the window
and watched the Indian woman
dip her head into Steve's lap and take him
into her mouth.
I watched Steve lift her head
and kiss her deeply. I wondered how she tasted at that
exact moment. Then I watched them
both climb into the top bunk. They undressed each other.
They were shadows moving at new angles.
They became one dark body with impossible limbs.
I could not see their faces. I could not see
their eyes. I could not see their mouths.
I could not see. I added more wood to the fire.

4.

Because I will be seen in public, my mother sews me
a ribbon shirt: A black cotton Oxford
with bright red ribbons on the chest and back.
I wear tight blue jeans. I will wear braids
if I want to attract an Indian woman who speaks
her tribal language. I will wear
a ponytail if I want to attract an Indian woman
who plays basketball.
I will wear my hair loose and uncombed if I want
to attract an Indian woman
who will climb into a camper with me and teach me
about her dark body.

5.

During a break in the powwow, my cousin Steve
(you know the one) brought a beautiful Indian woman
named Desire back to my house ( her name was Desire
This is not a metaphor.) The rest
of my family, my mother and father, my siblings, were still
at the powwow. "Use my bed,"
I said to Steve and Desire. I listened at the door as Steve
pulled Desire's panties down
her long, brown legs. I listened at the door as Desire
pulled the tie from her long, black hair.
I listened at the door as Desire let all of her hair
fall back to the cool white sheets.

6.

This fancydancer turns cartwheels across the sawdust
while a dozen Indian women
carefully watch him. He is a stranger at this powwow.
Nobody knows his name
but his anonymity makes him more handsome.
He is tall and lanky, his face painted black.
Between songs, he ignores the obvious stares of the
Indian women and focuses
his attention on the beautiful Indian man
in the third row, wearing a red shirt.

7.

I am married to an Indian woman who wears a red
quilt when she dances at powwows.
When she is absent, I hold that quilt to my face
and memorize its smell.


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