Sherman Alexie is in my head.

Sherman Alexie is in my head.
Even when I am not
Teaching his novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian,
Or reading his poems
Or recommending his short stories,
I find his words
Reverberating in my mind
And connecting my world to his
And to yours.


In "Dangerous Astronomy" Alexie says,
"I wanted to walk outside and praise the stars"
And as I read the words,
I think of the images from
Roots
and hear these words,
as Omoro Kinte named his son Kunte Kinte,
Holding him up to the stars:
"Behold, the only thing greater than yourself."


I am taken back to
Alexie's words in Diary:
"Branch by branch, Rowdy and I climbed toward the top of the tree
to the bottom of the sky"




and Rowdy says, "I've never seen anything so pretty."



And even though that scene
takes place during the day,
My brain makes it night time
and there are stars.


I flash past the brutality of Roots
and the anger of the Rez
and the dark pain of Rowdy
and there are stars.

.