Poet and storyteller Joseph Bruchac was born in Greenfield Center, New York and is the author of more than 120 books for adults and children. In his work, Bruchac explores his Abenaki ancestry and Native American storytelling traditions.
More By This Poet
Steel
I
Steel arches up
past the customs sheds,
the bridge to a place
named Canada,
thrust into Mohawk land.
A dull rainbow
arcing over
the new school,
designed to fan
out like the tail
of the drumming Partridge—
dark feathers of the old way's pride
mixed in with blessed Kateri's
pale dreams of sacred...
Prints
Seeing photos
of ancestors
a century past
is like looking
at your own
fingerprints—
circles
and lines
you can't
recognize
until someone else
with a stranger's eye
looks close and says
that's you.