Login
|
Join PoetrySoup
Home
Submit Poems
Login
Sign Up
Member Home
My Poems
My Quotes
My Profile & Settings
My Inboxes
My Outboxes
Soup Mail
Contest Results/Status
Contests
Poems
Poets
Famous Poems
Famous Poets
Dictionary
Types of Poems
Videos
Resources
Syllable Counter
Articles
Forum
Blogs
Poem of the Day
New Poems
Anthology
Grammar Check
Greeting Card Maker
Classifieds
Quotes
Short Stories
Member Area
Member Home
My Profile and Settings
My Poems
My Quotes
My Short Stories
My Articles
My Comments Inboxes
My Comments Outboxes
Soup Mail
Poetry Contests
Contest Results/Status
Followers
Poems of Poets I Follow
Friend Builder
Soup Social
Poetry Forum
New/Upcoming Features
The Wall
Soup Facebook Page
Who is Online
Link to Us
Member Poems
Poems - Top 100 New
Poems - Top 100 All-Time
Poems - Best
Poems - by Topic
Poems - New (All)
Poems - New (PM)
Poems - New by Poet
Poems - Random
Poems - Read
Poems - Unread
Member Poets
Poets - Best New
Poets - New
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems Recent
Poets - Top 100 Community
Poets - Top 100 Contest
Famous Poems
Famous Poems - African American
Famous Poems - Best
Famous Poems - Classical
Famous Poems - English
Famous Poems - Haiku
Famous Poems - Love
Famous Poems - Short
Famous Poems - Top 100
Famous Poets
Famous Poets - Living
Famous Poets - Most Popular
Famous Poets - Top 100
Famous Poets - Best
Famous Poets - Women
Famous Poets - African American
Famous Poets - Beat
Famous Poets - Cinquain
Famous Poets - Classical
Famous Poets - English
Famous Poets - Haiku
Famous Poets - Hindi
Famous Poets - Jewish
Famous Poets - Love
Famous Poets - Metaphysical
Famous Poets - Modern
Famous Poets - Punjabi
Famous Poets - Romantic
Famous Poets - Spanish
Famous Poets - Suicidal
Famous Poets - Urdu
Famous Poets - War
Poetry Resources
Anagrams
Bible
Book Store
Character Counter
Cliché Finder
Poetry Clichés
Common Words
Copyright Information
Grammar
Grammar Checker
Homonym
Homophones
How to Write a Poem
Lyrics
Love Poem Generator
New Poetic Forms
Plagiarism Checker
Poetics
Poetry Art
Publishing
Random Word Generator
Spell Checker
Store
What is Good Poetry?
Word Counter
Email Poem
Your IP Address: 216.73.216.110
Your Email Address:
Required
Email Address Not Valid.
To Email Address:
Email Address Not Valid.
Required
Subject
Required
Personal Note:
Poem Title:
Poem
When I was very young All I really wanted To be was an Indian. My mother always read to me - Stories of fairies and elves, Of princesses and ogres, witches, And brownies who did good deeds. Poems, “Wynken, Blynken and Nod”, “The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat”, And “The Sugar Plum Tree”. Books, Alice in Wonderland, The Little Colonel stories, and The Five Little Peppers. (I wonder if my grandchildren Have ever heard of any of the Old-fashioned stories and poems Which were all magic to me.) But, most of all, I loved Longfellow’s poem Hiawatha. “By the shores of Gitche Gumee, By the shining deep sea water, Stood the wigwam of Nokomis…” I hear my mother almost singing Those magical words from “The Childhood of Hiawatha”. I could see Hiawatha growing up And learning Indian ways in The woodlands of his youth. I wanted to live in the woods, To learn to talk with animals And know their secrets. I wanted to wear moccasins And build a birch bark canoe! One Christmas my brother got A cowboy suit and hat and holsters, But I, wonder of wonders, Got a “real” Indian dress With designs of tiny beads, A fringe on the skirt, And a headband with feathers! I told my friends I was part Indian, That my great grandmother Was a real live Indian! When it got back to my mother She just said, “What stories you tell!” Although I outgrew the dress, The dream stayed with me Throughout my childhood - Sort of wishful thinking. I always wanted to Be close to nature. Much of my childhood I spent by myself, somewhat Of a loner, climbing trees, Making hideouts in the woods, Walking in streams To “cover my tracks”. That “Indian child” I was Still lives on in the Recesses of my memory. Maybe that’s why now, “grown up”, I love walking in the woods Or foraging by the ocean, Why Stalking the Wild Asparagus Is one of my favorite books, Why I love picking wild blueberries And grapes and making jam, or Digging for clams and mussels. Why I HAD to experiment with cooking Slipper shells and making Seaweed pudding and “Sumac-ade”. Of course, I realize, As well as anyone, that The life of an Indian was not As idyllic as I had once believed, But, even now, after All these years have passed, It appears that My “inner Indian” Is alive and well and Living on Martha’s Vineyard!
CAPTCHA Preview
Type the characters you see in the picture
Required