[In
advance of the forthcoming reprint by Nine Point Press of my 1978 book, A Seneca Journal, the following are some
of the poems omitted from the original publication & now ready to be seen
anew. Other work from the Seneca years
has appeared since then in Shaking the
Pumpkin & elsewhere. (J.R.)]
A Seneca Memory
At Harry
Watt’s old place
above the
Leo Cooper tells me:
“I could have been the first
“American Indian
“rabbi were it not for my love
“of pork
circa 1972,
For A Seneca Journal: “The
Grandfather”
Bucktooth,
about middling height,
spare
& thin, hair cut close to his head, quite white. He resides near the mouth of Bucktooth Creek
8 miles above Coldspring on the northern bank of the
Allegany near his cabin are the Bucktooth Mills
Bucktooth Hotel & Bucktooth Postoffice
So his name is likely to have a local celebrity long after he
shall have passed away.
Memo.
Old Bucktooth died June 1851. Ben
Williams letter, Sept. 4, 1851.
In the Direction of the Equator
but My Feet Still Facing North
pale
eyes. the tree
is
friendlyfriend Jerome he says
my watch says
3:15.
I walk to the old corner of
past the Seneca
Theater & cross
the bridge. hello
you citizens of
hello the dog says.
he is the tree’s friend
& mine.
he is a silly yellow
color. eyes are shining
lightly into eyes.
in
empty & the trees
of
someone tells us:
you are going on a trip.
Two Sky Poems
1
the sky
is a largeanimal
we live
under its tongue
2
my tongue
is a largeanimal
grunting
is how we see the sky
The Beaver 1-12
THE
BEAVER (1)
They
shall eat it.
THE BEAVER
(2)
In her
womb.
THE
BEAVER (3)
And the
sand lizard.
THE
BEAVER (4)
He comes
running.
Someone
slain.
Their
father.
His sins.
A harlot.
In the
heat.
He shall
lead.
The
prophet.
And he
built.
[composed
by gematria]
dead dog
–
– my
enemy – dead stone
dead stallion
– my deliverer –
dead mind
dead metal
dead appendage
– king of promises –
– my burden –
first & foremost
– my dead star –
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