Here are a few of my published as well as newer poems in the category under “poetry” on this site. I will put more up as I get time.
Here are the poems that made up the play, “The Descent of Inanna”, performed by the Eugene Chamber Theater and written in community with producer Catherine Vandertuin, musician Jeff Defty and all the remarkable actors that helped create these words in their embodiment of this ancient myth.
Here are some links to other poetry here:
Do Not Worry about the Dry Season
Prayer Sticks on Bald Mountain
Can anyone tell me where the poem from a Nez Perce Elder 1853 about a Warrior’s Lament is found please.
Hello Bridget, are you thinking of Chief Joseph’s words, beginning with, “I will fight no more forever”? I have seen this referred to as a “warrior’s lament” after Joseph led his people on a long and arduous–and sometimes nearly miraculous– journey toward Canada and freedom. But the US cavalry caught up with him literally on the Canadian border. If you google the quote above, you will easily find this, I think. Also, Joseph has some other powerful statements about the unjust treaty policy in which the lands of some were signed away by others who were not traditionally linked to those lands. Here are more of his words:
“Suppose a white man would come to me and say, ‘Joseph, I like your horses, and I want to buy them’. I say to him, ‘No, my horses suit me. I will not sell them’. Then he goes to my neighbor, and says to him: “Joseph has some good horses. I want to buy them, but he refuses to sell.’ My neighbor answers, ‘Pay me the money, and I will sell you Joseph’s horses.’ The white man returns to me and says, ‘Joseph, I have bought your horses, and you must let me have them.’ If we sold our lands to the Government, that is the way they were bought. ”
These words can be found in Moquin, Wayne, ed. with Charles Van Doren. Great Documents in American Indian History (New York, Praeger Publishers, 1973).