Missing

Missing


for Spike Mulligan


What is lost is lost---Ignace Paderewski


Crazy Horse gets a job at 7-11,
four dollars an hour,
graveyard shift

DOORS MUST REMAIN UNLOCKED
DURING BUSINESS HOURS

and all the Coke he can drink free.
Crazy Horse picks up a nicotine habit
spends breaks lighting up in the cooler,
hiding behind the milk
and eggs
because co-workers told him
there's much less smoke that way.

WARNING: THE SURGEON GENERAL HAS DETERMINED
THAT CIGARETTE SMOKING IS DANGEROUS
TO YOUR HEALTH

Crazy Horse learns how to take inventory,
decides his dreams have expired
have become so old
they must be sent back
to the distributor,
recycled
and shipped to another city, a photo of
Crazy Horse printed on each container.

AS LONG AS THE WINDS BLOW
GRASSES GROW AND RIVERS FLOW

Have you seen this man? A crazy woman from some
reservation dials 911
again and again. She finds Crazy Horse in her mirrors,
in the bar near her house, fancydancing
in the eyes and ears and mouths
of Indian boys

NO INDIANS ALOUD

afraid of their hands, reaching for bottles,
hips, government checks every hour punched
into their hearts, floating
just above minimum.


Sherman Alexie..........from The Business of Fancydancing