Quote of the Day - 1-24-2012

The Plains

Indians never rode on wheels although they lived

in round tents set in circles, made mounds

(and danced around them) for those whose throats

had shut, in dust, mouths filled at last.

-- Pamela Alexander in Navigable Waterways (Yale Series of Younger Poets No 20)

~~~~~

Today’s quote, like yesterdays, is snippet from a poem. This one was published in the 1980s. What is the first thing you think about as you read these lines? And the second thought?

My first was about the circle shape. It is the universal round for motion (wheels) and dwellings (tents, hogans, yurts). How different from our homes today full of rectangular shapes!

The second thought was about starvation…the very last phrase ‘mouths filled at last.’  Would this have been the time of year it would have most likely occurred on the plains? 

Note: This books is also available online here.