Hollywood Indian
For Layli Long Soldier
I lay me down
across the metro tracks
Bless the parking lot where
I kissed a city ndn
There are lullabies downtown:
the desert moans at night
bringing the smell of cold
or a bloody nose
White hippies smoke, waist-deep
in overwatered native gardens
We never did go to Amoeba
but we kneeled at Puvunga
I cannot dream this highway vacant
nor assume these lights are godless
I always wonder where the ghosts are
& if they still celebrate the living
Headlights hush through our window
in the eternal language of the grasses
Source: Poetry (July/August 2024)