white river poems 399
we saw a thrilling
and pitiful sight.
The whole Ute nation
on horseback and on foot
was streaming by.
As they passed our troops,
their gait changed
to a run. Sheep
were abandoned, blankets
and personal possessions
strewn along the road,
women and children
were loudly wailing....
Some Ute
a long time after:
So you can turn
into a philosopher
for your own sake,
a derelict (your condition
cause for the formation
of many a commission --
so, for their sake, an occupation),
a political orator,
or all or some of these, me
wanting to be none of them,
nor an ethnic exhibit,
nor in a movie.
What it is
to come to
among the debris
and U.S. Government pre-fabs.
To dismantle your mind
as you walk away