Long Chippewa Poems

Dream Song of the Thunders
Chippewa saying
translation by Michael R. Burch

Sometimes I bemoan my “plight”
when all the while
the wind bears me across the immense sky.


What is life?
The flash of a firefly.
The breath of the winter buffalo.
The...

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Crazy Horse's Naming Vision
by Michael R. Burch

Earthbound,
and yet I now fly
through these clouds that are aimlessly drifting...
so high
that no sound
echoing by
below where the mountains are lifting
the sky
can be heard.

Like a bird,
but not meek,
like a hawk...

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Cerebral Intelligence Empowered With...
Google Embedded Microchip™¡åßç

Nowadays...ah so passe routine top notch roboticized
brain surgery ushers, inoculates, begets... promising
immunity against pesky flagging and/or absent minded
precursor to dementia praecox, alzheimer's regarding
partial/total recall asper memory, said loss linkedin with
age...

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Mayan Poetry Translations

The Receiving of the Flower
excerpt from an ancient Mayan love poem
translation by Michael R. Burch

Let us sing overflowing with joy
as we observe the Receiving of the Flower.
The lovely maidens beam;
their hearts leap in...

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I sometimes hear a stubborn myth,
that before Europeans came
the locals of America
all lived lives quite peaceful, and tame.

The old trope of the Noble Savage,
that somehow manages to persist,
polls show a disturbing number
of people believe in...

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Native Speaks Truths 

She's not your princess or your squaw;
She is respected clan mother of the Chippewa.

He's not your chief, buck, or redskin:
He is a proud warrior of the Algonquin.

We're not your fashion trend or...

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'Camp Chippewa, ' its tennis and rifle range, X-Class sailing, 
And classic 'Old Town' canvas covered wooden canoes, 
Not the low-class aluminum canoes of a 'Camp Thunderbird.'
Cass Lake - garden of the Mississippi's hidden currents,...

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Today we took a cruise to Devil’s island where the strong Lake Superior waves
from years of crashing on its rocks have created these beautiful caves.

The thunderous booms the waves made as they hit the rocks
led...

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I walk an already trodden path...
Uncertain, of future lives that lie ahead

But, in faith I close these earthly Ojibwa eyes
In trill, thus, I hear the old ways in your presence amidst Chinook winds
As harmonic they...

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At one time eight different Native America Indian Tribes lived in peace,
In the state of Kansas, sharing buffalo, shared lands with no lease.
The Iowa, Chippewa, Delaware, Kansas, Osage, Pawnee and Kickapoo,
Shared venison, and fresh cool...

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She was taken by bears, that was the consensus,
dragged off in her sleeping bag; tracks confirmed.

Later the child was eaten, but not before she died of old age.

She lodged with the Grizzlies, growing sturdy, unusually...

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Extra weight no longer a problem for shallow water, 
We bulked up for the next leg of our journey, 
Water containers, even some canned goods
An acceptable luxury in our seventeen foot canoe, 
A canvas topping...

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She was taken by bears;
that was the unlikely consensus -
dragged off in her sleeping bag, 
tracks confirmed.

She lodged with the grizzlies, 
growing sturdy, unusually hirsute
for a human girl, 
but pretty in a wide-bottomed way.
Eventually she...

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Lanky’s Chronicles

We meet a long-limbed white boy that said his family was owners of slaves.
He was a leggy ole boy and bony angular in his physical ways.
Uncle Tom was from his past.
He described plantation life...

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The Iroquois, the Ottawa, the Potawatomi, the Crow,
The Lakota, the Chippewa; all dwelt by their shores
And in their deep forests, but are there no more. 

Yet the Lakes remain; their waters abide.
Clear and quiet they...

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Mohawk, Mandan, Kikapu, Cree,
Yakoma,Seminole, Crow,Shawnee.
Arapaho, Chippewa and Sioux,
Mystical names to me and you.
Names like Delaware, Fox and Paiute,
Listen to their music on the flute.
Lakota, Macuna, Omulgee, Nes Perce,
Yuma,Nakota,Ossage, Washoe, Hualapai
All names that should never ever...

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Sky Beings

Present since the day of creation,
They define the firmament
Populating the night sight sky 
In ever changing relationships
As Galileo’s sphere revolves on it axis 
Only to reappear for the same journey each night.

The focus of...

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Got her name off a cracker box.
Sweet young thing.
You know she really rocks.

She climbs on top.
Keeps me warm at night.

You know that girl.
She's really out of sight..

In Chippewa Falls..

That's right! 

Chippewa Falls.

Wisconsin..

Found her name in...

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“Yeha noha,
Yeha noha.”
The Indians chant, 
summoning the healing spirits
 from the marijuana cloud.
Puff, puff, and pass the chillum pipe.
Bodies carelessly twirl the ceremonial dance.
Those days are aged.

A stoned car tore through Chippewa school district,
 bodies...

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A Long-Lost Friend
Dedicated to Chippewa Lake Park

When did you die
When did everyone turn on you
There were so many children
Who laughed with you
And squealed as they sat with you
And you were dependable
There year after year
As we...

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