POETRY FRIDAY: The Powwow at the End of the World

Here is a great poem by Sherman Alexie that I found at Poetry Out Loud when I was looking for a poem by Langston Hughes for Black History Month. I like the way Alexie uses repetition to great effect in Powwow at the End of the World.


The Powwow at the End of the World

By Sherman Alexie

I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall
after an Indian woman puts her shoulder to the Grand Coulee Dam
and topples it. I am told by many of you that I must forgive
and so I shall after the floodwaters burst each successive dam
downriver from the Grand Coulee. I am told by many of you
that I must forgive and so I shall after the floodwaters find
their way to the mouth of the Columbia River as it enters the Pacific
and causes all of it to rise. I am told by many of you that I must

forgive
and so I shall after the first drop of floodwater is swallowed by that

salmon
waiting in the Pacific. I am told by many of you that I must forgive

and so I shall
after that salmon swims upstream, through the mouth of the

Columbia
and then past the flooded cities, broken dams and abandoned

reactors
of Hanford.

You can read the rest of the poem here.

At Wild Rose Reader, I have a special post for The Year of the Frog. It includes an original mask poem I wrote, a link to a poem by Alice Schertle, and brief reviews of some poetry books and nonfiction books in verse about frogs and toads that I recommend.

Kelly Fineman has the Poetry Friday Roundup.