Friday, February 29, 2008

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.

6 comments:

tanita✿davis said...

I love how he both expresses anger and contempt and a poignant wistfulness in this poem. Many of them deal with forgiving and forgetting - or remembering. His is such an unique voice. Thanks for sharing this.

Elaine Magliaro said...

Tadmack,

I agree with everything you've said.

Anonymous said...

Powerful choice, Elaine. And I agree with everything TadMack said as well.

Sara said...

His "free" verse is more structured than some formal poetry I know. It's a marvelous thing to feel this poem pull you along, with a force like that river. And he says things that I don't want to hear in a way that I DO hear them.

Anonymous said...

I love how Sherman Alexie is being sarcastic when he says I guess I should forgive even though all these things the white people did that ruined the wonderful nature of North America.

Kimbra Kasch said...

Beautiful poem - if only people hear