Two Feathers

Contrary to my usual practice, I 'm not providing an image for this poem due to copyright and fair use considerations. Please follow the link provided below to see the painting by Native American artist Jerome Tiger, Stomp Dance, on which this poem is based. Tiger was an extremely gifted painter born in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, a Muskogee Creek-Seminole, who died tragically at the age of 26, after producing some of the most vivid art depicting Native Americans I've ever been privileged to see.

Two Feathers

When everything is taken from a man,

and there is nothing left,

when his home has been burned 

for someone else's crops,

and his moccasins are gone,

then he must go barefoot,

stop dancing

or learn

to dance in boots.

When a man is made naked and

invisible,

then he must dress

in someone else's clothes

to be seen.

When a man's way has been broken and lost,

if he wants to dance it back, 

then he will dance the dance he knows

as best he can

and fly

with just

two feathers.

April 2011 

Posted for Friday Poetically at the inimitable OneStopPoetry

(Brian Miller's prompt for today was to choose any work of art as subject for a poem. Thanks, Brian.)

This poem may make more sense if you  click here to view Stomp Dance,  which inspired it; you can also read Jerome Tiger's biography.