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)


