How Do We Forgive Our Fathers?
Maybe in a dream.
Do we forgive our fathers for leaving us too often,
or forever,
when we were little?
Maybe for scaring us with unexpected rage,
or for making us nervous
because there never seemed to be any rage there at all?
Do we forgive our fathers for marrying,
or not marrying,
our mothers?
Or divorcing,
or not divorcing,
our mothers?
And shall we forgive them for their excesses
of warmth
or coldness?
Shall we forgive them
for pushing
or leaning?
For shutting doors?
For speaking through walls?
Or never speaking?
Or never being silent?
Do we forgive our fathers in our age or in theirs?
Or in their deaths,
saying it to them,
or not saying it?
If we forgive our fathers, what is left?
How To Write The Great American Indian Novel
All of the Indians must have tragic features: tragic noses, eyes, and arms.
Their hands and fingers must be tragic when they reach for tragic food.
The hero must be a half-breed, half white and half Indian, preferably
from a horse culture. He should often weep alone. That is mandatory.
If the hero is an Indian woman, she is beautiful. She must be slender
and in love with a white man. But if she loves an Indian man
then he must be a half-breed, preferably from a horse culture.
If the Indian woman loves a white man, then he has to be so white
that we can see the blue veins running through his skin like rivers.
When the Indian woman steps out of her dress, the white man gasps
at the endless beauty of her brown skin. She should be compared to nature:
brown hills, mountains, fertile valleys, dewy grass, wind, and clear water.
If she is compared to murky water, however, then she must have a secret.
Indians always have secrets, which are carefully and slowly revealed.
Yet Indian secrets can be disclosed suddenly, like a storm.
Indian men, of course, are storms. They should destroy the lives
of any white women who choose to love them. All white women love
Indian men. That is always the case. White women feign disgust
at the savage in blue jeans and T-shirt, but secretly lust after him.
White women dream about half-breed Indian men from horse cultures.
Indian men are horses, smelling wild and gamey. When the Indian man
unbuttons his pants, the white woman should think of topsoil.
There must be one murder, one suicide, one attempted rape.
Alcohol should be consumed. Cars must be driven at high speeds.
Indians must see visions. White people can have the same visions
if they are in love with Indians. If a white person loves an Indian
then the white person is Indian by proximity. White people must carry
an Indian deep inside themselves. Those interior Indians are half-breed
and obviously from horse cultures. If the interior Indian is male
then he must be a warrior, especially if he is inside a white man.
If the interior Indian is female, then she must be a healer, especially if she is inside
a white woman. Sometimes there are complications.
An Indian man can be hidden inside a white woman. An Indian woman
can be hidden inside a white man. In these rare instances,
everybody is a half-breed struggling to learn more about his or her horse culture.
There must be redemption, of course, and sins must be forgiven.
For this, we need children. A white child and an Indian child, gender
not important, should express deep affection in a childlike way.
In the Great American Indian novel, when it is finally written,
all of the white people will be Indians and all of the Indians will be ghosts.
Daredevil
On her birthday, in 1963,
My aunt and her friends drank antifreeze.
Fourteen teenage Indians died that night.
My aunt survived but she soon went blind.
And though she's no masked superhero,
She recognizes me with some other sense
No matter how long I've been absent.
I can silently appear on her front porch
But she'll say my name as she opens the door.
My aunt and her friends drank antifreeze.
Fourteen teenage Indians died that night.
My aunt survived but she soon went blind.
And though she's no masked superhero,
She recognizes me with some other sense
No matter how long I've been absent.
I can silently appear on her front porch
But she'll say my name as she opens the door.
Daredevil
Author: Sherman Alexie
Even though people lose their eyesight it doesn't mean they can't see. On 1963 the day 14 teenagers had died the next morning. Drinking the blood poisoning liquid rushing into her system from that night. Except the aunt which had lost her eyesight after that day of the daredevil. The only women who had survived was portrayed by her nephew as a superhero. This symbol was written showing her senses as a superpower it seemed like she never lost her eyes. Some of the themes in the story are senses turned into superpowers, and how dares can be turned into poisonous tricks.
Thesis
Author
Symbols
Themes
Title
Conflicts
Author: Sherman Alexie
Even though people lose their eyesight it doesn't mean they can't see. On 1963 the day 14 teenagers had died the next morning. Drinking the blood poisoning liquid rushing into her system from that night. Except the aunt which had lost her eyesight after that day of the daredevil. The only women who had survived was portrayed by her nephew as a superhero. This symbol was written showing her senses as a superpower it seemed like she never lost her eyes. Some of the themes in the story are senses turned into superpowers, and how dares can be turned into poisonous tricks.
Thesis
Author
Symbols
Themes
Title
Conflicts
Poverty of Mirrors
You wake these mornings alone and nothing
can be forgiven; you drink the last
swallow of warm beer from the can
beside the bed, tell the stranger sleeping
on the floor to go home. It's too easy
to be no one with nothing to do, only
slightly worried about the light bill
more concerned with how dark day gets.
You walk alone on moist pavement wondering
what color rain is in the country.
Does the world out there revolve around rooms
without doors or windows? Centering the mirror
you found in the trash, walls seem closer
and you can never find the right way
out, so you open the fridge again
for a beer, find only rancid milk and drink it
whole. This all tastes too familar.
can be forgiven; you drink the last
swallow of warm beer from the can
beside the bed, tell the stranger sleeping
on the floor to go home. It's too easy
to be no one with nothing to do, only
slightly worried about the light bill
more concerned with how dark day gets.
You walk alone on moist pavement wondering
what color rain is in the country.
Does the world out there revolve around rooms
without doors or windows? Centering the mirror
you found in the trash, walls seem closer
and you can never find the right way
out, so you open the fridge again
for a beer, find only rancid milk and drink it
whole. This all tastes too familar.
Poverty Of Mirrors
Author: Sherman Alexie
This is written in the time period when Alexie recognized where he had started and where he ended up it was in the exact reflection. He wrote this poem depict the lives of Native Americans who attempted to escape their situations through alcohol and other forms of self-abuse. Even though they wanted to get out of their habits their was no hope, no major tasks they had to do for the day. Mirrors are the symbol of self reflection and rooms without door or windows is another symbol of saying there is no escape. Depression, acceptance, and alcoholism are some of the major themes in this poem.
Thesis
Author
Symbols
Themes
Title
Conflicts
Author: Sherman Alexie
This is written in the time period when Alexie recognized where he had started and where he ended up it was in the exact reflection. He wrote this poem depict the lives of Native Americans who attempted to escape their situations through alcohol and other forms of self-abuse. Even though they wanted to get out of their habits their was no hope, no major tasks they had to do for the day. Mirrors are the symbol of self reflection and rooms without door or windows is another symbol of saying there is no escape. Depression, acceptance, and alcoholism are some of the major themes in this poem.
Thesis
Author
Symbols
Themes
Title
Conflicts