Earle S. Thompson (1950-2006)

"His poems make me cry and laugh. His poems shake and change me. His poems are necessary, essential and elemental." ~ Sherman Alexie, 2003

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Injun Blues

By Earle Thompson

In a mission
doorway
a in-num
puts
a green bottle
up to his lips.
He begins
to sing:
   "Gimme 5
minutes
only five minutes more;
let me stay
ah-yah-aye..."
He pounds his fist
on the wall.

A couple passes
and he smiles
at them.

Sept. 20, 1984
First published in Northwest Indian News

No comments:


(photo by Brooke Kempner)