Chicken

Chicken


The sun only illuminates the eye of the man,
but shines into the eye and heart of the child.
----Ralph Waldo Emerson "Nature"


My wife wanted to give my sons the chance
to see my tribe's powwow with transparent eyes,
and maybe fall in love with the chicken dance,

But I stayed home. They wouldn't hear my
crazy rants about the powwow bullies who made
me cry. My wife wanted to give my sons
the chance

To enjoy themselves. "Listen, I just can't
go with you," I said to my wife, who was
unsurprised by my need to spin a different
chicken dance.

"But they can hang with their uncles and
aunts," I said. "And my mother she'll be
surprised that my sons have been given
the chance

To powwow." And so my wife and sons drove,
"sans Father", to my rez on a Saturday night
and spent hours watching the chicken dance.

And, yes, I remember pissing my pants
when I saw the reds of my bullies' eyes,
but my wife gave my sons an aboriginal
chance.

"Your boys saw joy in their uncles and aunts,"
my wife said, "And the pride in your
mother's eyes. so be thankful I gave your
sons this chance, because they
fell in love with the chicken dance."


Sherman Alexie

from his book FACE