Chapters (17)
| DAUGHTER: | My hands/red/black Dance to Rhythms Different/Various/similar rhythms |
| My Red Hand it dances to the Rhythm of my Father’s Blood/His Blood Beat/His red Man beat PURE RED MAN |
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| FATHER: | My father/his mother/ Tlingit from Alaska/ |
| DAUGHTER: | Died giving birth to him She died/ But she still whispered to him/ My father/his father |
| FATHER: | Santee Lakota |
| DAUGHTER: | My father half Tlingit Half Lakota dreamer |
| FATHER: | Transported Transported to Boston |
| DAUGHTER: | He/my Father crying for his Father/Drumming up the Rhythm of his Father Through Pent up Angers Wearing Eagle Feathers |
| FATHER: | Sign of the Eagle |
| DAUGHTER: | Sign of Scorpio–Nov. 4/His birthday My Father/ |
| FATHER: | Eagle Born |
| DAUGHTER: | Scorpion beat his hands to the rhythm of his Father’s Ghost |
| FATHER: | His Father/My Grandfather Spent Depleted American Dreams/Stomped into the Dirt of the Res/ |
| DAUGHTER: | His American Dream/ |
| FATHER: | to pick up a Guitar To be a Blues Man To be a Red Man/Blues Man– |
| DAUGHTER: | My Father’s Father/My Grandfather |
| FATHER: | Ghost danced Lakota Style |
| DAUGHTER: | to his father/my Great Grandfather’s rhythm but he closed his eyes and also Ghost dances with |
| FATHER: | Robert Johnson/ Mississippi John Hurt Blind Lemon Jefferson |
| DAUGHTER: | He/my Grandfather couldn’t leave it/ |
| FATHER: | The Res– |
| DAUGHTER: | They wouldn’t let him leave it/ The Res/ |
| FATHER: | –“you’re not True to your own” |
| DAUGHTER: | –they said |
| FATHER: | “you’re not proud to be a red man” |
| DAUGHTER: | they said– |
| FATHER: | “If you leave/Don’t come back/ |
| DAUGHTER: | Don’t come back to the Res”–they say |
| He/my Grandfather Looked into my Father’s Eagle eyes A Child’s eyes/knowing eyes/an old child’s eyes/ His eyes–my Grandfather’s eyes Said |
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| FATHER: | “Take the world/make it yours/Rock the world You can Rock |
| DAUGHTER: | Rock |
| FATHER: | Rock |
| FATHER/DAUGHTER: | Rock the World” |
| DAUGHTER: | My Father Glides Eagle-eyed from the Res and the Tlingit island/ |
| FATHER: | Leather-jacketed/Eagleeyed/ |
| DAUGHTER: | Blues and Tlingit/Lakota riffs dripping from his fingers/ |
| FATHER: | Chuck Berry/ |
| DAUGHTER: | Tlingit riffs dripping from his fingers/ Leather-jacketed and Guitar ready Just like Chuck Berry or |
| FATHER: | Link Wray |
| DAUGHTER: | –Link Wray |
| FATHER: | –a Shawnee from North Carolina |
| DAUGHTER: | –A RED/Blues Rock ’n’ Roll man/ |
| FATHER: | –a cool man |
| DAUGHTER: | My Father cool-Just like Link Wray |
| FATHER: | Slick |
| DAUGHTER: | –Just like Link Wray Ghost dances Lakota Style/Tlingit Style and Rock ’n’ Rolled/a Steady Rock ’n’ Roll bop |
| and Somebody on the Res says “How could you do that/Leave/ us/How could you?/ |
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| You’re not proud of your own kind”/Somebody on the Res says/ they say “wanna be a white boy?/Wait till they call you a FeatherHead”/ Someone on the Res says |
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| My Father stares straight ahead | |
| FATHER: | Eagle-eyed/ |
| DAUGHTER: | proud and Eagle-eyed Outside |
| FATHER: | –Standing Tall |
| DAUGHTER: | Inside–Rumbling The voices of the Res rumbled/ inside of him but he continued to dance/ |
| FATHER: | Ghost dance/ |
| DAUGHTER: | The Res voices Got Louder/ He continued to Blues dance/ Blues/Red/Blues/John Lee Hooker dance/he had to take the voices and shoot them down/Vodka Tequila Bourbon |
| Hide himself in a woman’s Skirt/to kill the voices Vodka Tequila Bourbon Another woman’s skirt/gonna shoot it right Down! |
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| My Black Hand– | |
| My Mother’s hand/A Black Girl | |
| MOTHER: | Girl from Virginia/my mother/ a Sharecropper Black Girl from Virginia/ |
| DAUGHTER: | Her mother/my Grandmother Lynched/ |
| MOTHER: | it is Hard Time Virginia/ |
| DAUGHTER: | no Different from Hard Time Mississippi |
| MOTHER: | “Don’t walk anywhere except in Dark Town” |
| DAUGHTER: | they told my mother |
| MOTHER: | “Just stay in Dark Town” |
| DAUGHTER: | –they told my mother |
| MOTHER: | “DarkTown” was where the Dark people lived |
| DAUGHTER: | they weren’t Black Then They were colored then and where they lived was “DarkTown” |
| My Mother/Sharecropper Black Girl/Big Black Girl Knew about Trees |
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| MOTHER: | Knew about the Bodies that hung from those trees |
| DAUGHTER: | and the people who wore billowing white sheets My mother’s bare feet |
| MOTHER: | were blistered from Tar and Dirt Roads/ |
| DAUGHTER: | Those feet Shifted themselves |
| MOTHER: | into high heels/ |
| DAUGHTER: | She wanted to Chuck Berry Bop in her high heels/ She wanted |
| MOTHER: | to “Sport high-heeled shoes” |
| DAUGHTER: | She wanted |
| MOTHER: | her hair slicked back pressed and curled/ |
| DAUGHTER: | She wanted |
| MOTHER: | to Lip Balm her lips–“Ruby” Red Just Like The Ray Charles Song/ |
| DAUGHTER: | She wanted |
| MOTHER: | to snap her fingers/ Slick headed and curly sporting high-heeled Shoes to the rhythm of cities/ |
| DAUGHTER: | She wanted to Enter a New Rhythm Explore |
| MOTHER: | –not just the Rhythm of Southern men Clinging to Mojo/ |
| MOTHER/DAUGHTER: | She wanted a city |
| DAUGHTER: | She leaves DarkTown Slick/curly headed high heels and fingers snapping and clicking/ She goes to Boston/ sporting high-heeled shoes |
| FATHER/MOTHER: | There are Dances/ |
| DAUGHTER: | yes There are Dances People will always Dance |
| My Father sees her/ He sees her at a dance/ His Eagle eyes/connect to her Brown/Black Girl Eyes |
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| FATHER: | Eagle-eyed RED man/ |
| MOTHER: | red-lipped high-heeled Black Girl |
| DAUGHTER: | The Hucklebuck Dance meets The Ghost Dance |
| And the Colored People/Before They were Black/The Colored people said |
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| MOTHER: | –“Whachoo doin’ with him/Some Red Man/ What do you want with him/ Some Red Man/That FeatherHead dancer/whachoo doin’ with him” |
| DAUGHTER: | And the Skins on the Res said |
| FATHER: | –“You didn’t get an Indian Girl/one of our Girls/Got a Dark/ Darker/NIGGER Girl/not a Girl from the Res/ What are you doing with her/ Why didn’t you Get a Girl From the Res!/ Come back to the Res!”/ |
| DAUGHTER: | They–my Father my Mother |
| They both hear the voices/ | |
| FATHER: | Voices from the Res/ |
| DAUGHTER: | The Tlingit Voice that whispers in his ear |
| MOTHER: | Voices from the Virginia Fields |
| DAUGHTER: | They–both–my Mother and Father try to Ghost Dance/Blues Dance Drink away the Voices |
| FATHER: | –Western/Northern Red voices/ |
| MOTHER: | Southern Black voices |
| DAUGHTER: | They dance Snap their fingers Guitar Lick/try to Shoot it on Down |
| FATHER: | Vodka |
| MOTHER: | Tequila |
| DAUGHTER: | Bourbon |
| They try to shoot the voices down/ | |
| FATHER: | Boom |
| DAUGHTER: | Boom |
| MOTHER: | Boom |
| DAUGHTER: | Boom/ Shoot them all Down– A year later–they marry– |
| A year after that I crash through amniotic Fluid and blood/ |
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| I crash but silently my mother says |
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| MOTHER: | –“She’s so quiet”/ |
| DAUGHTER: | my Mother says |
| FATHER: | –“Makes no noise” |
| DAUGHTER: | my Father says I hear his voice but rarely–him/he usually Speaks through guitar fingers/his fingers speak on his guitar I see him longhaired/this man/red man who just spoke/ my father–this red man this big red man/beautiful man I am a part of him My Father |
| I hear him | |
| But | |
| I can’t speak But I can hear I can’t explain/I’m a baby But I feel it |
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| I feel them Turning on themselves Turning on each other not always with words There’s looks |
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| MOTHER: | shrugs |
| FATHER: | silence |
| MOTHER/FATHER: | more silence/ |
| DAUGHTER: | I feel it/ I feel them Shooting Themselves Down– |
| FATHER: | Boom |
| MOTHER: | Boom |
| FATHER: | Boom |
| MOTHER: | Boom |
| DAUGHTER: | Later I’m a child/ not a baby/a child I see it/smell it |
| FATHER: | Vodka |
| MOTHER: | Tequila |
| DAUGHTER: | Bourbon |
| I hear it my Mother’s Black Southern voice slurry/shot-down voice |
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| MOTHER: | I love him/He’s my husband/ my man/I’m NEVER Gonna Leave/I love him! |
| DAUGHTER: | The Black Southern/voices/the voices are now Black from the Virginia Fields/The 1960s and the voices are now Black tell her/my Mother |
| MOTHER: | –“your child is a Nigger/FeatherHead/a Nigger Feather- Head”– |
| DAUGHTER: | My Mother/she Vodka |
| MOTHER: | Tequila |
| DAUGHTER: | Bourbon |
| MOTHER/DAUGHTER: | Caries |
| DAUGHTER: | I hear it in my Father’s voice–more so in his fingers/Fingers |
| sliding up and down his guitar Vodka Tequila Bourbon crying |
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| FATHER: | Lakota/Tlingit guitar/Blues a shot-down Red Blues Bruised Man |
| DAUGHTER: | His voice thundered/sometimes there was thunder in his voice |
| FATHER: | “She’s my wife/I love her/ Never Gonna give her up/ I love her!” |
| DAUGHTER: | I grow up–my body can make a child I Do not but I can–make a child |
| A child/a life/can come through me can come crashing through amniotic Fluid and Blood/ It can come silently It can come thunderously |
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| My Grandfather/Long Dead Ghost dances in the hills/ |
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| His wife/my Grandmother calls me–“Dark Girl Monkey Girl animal/Dark/Monkey Girl!/The elders don’t want you/ WE don’t want you!” She says/ my Grandmother says My cousins on my mother’s side/ My Black hand side says– |
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| MOTHER: | “You’re Black/what’s this Indian/no such thing as HALF BLACK!” |
| DAUGHTER: | They/my cousins/my Black hand mother side cousins say put down my Father’s Tlingit walk/Ghost dance/ put aside sweet guitar licks and the Red/Blues of my Grandfather/Put aside his slick/sleek Rock ’n’ Roll res/Boston Bop/ Put it Down/ Shoot it on Down |
| My Red hand/my Father’s hand/His mother/my Grandmother/cousins Don’t call my name I’m the “dark”/Monkey Girl/ |
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| Don’t have a name– An uncle/he calls my name/ says my name/ only him/my Father’s Brother/ my uncle/he says |
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| FATHER: | “Drop the Black Blood/walk like a Skin/Drop the Dark/Darkey walk/You’re a SKIN” |
| DAUGHTER: | How can I drop the walk of Southern Black Girls/the walk heated/hip walk of Southern high-heeled Black Girls |
| MOTHER: (repeating) | You’re Black/no such thing as HALF BLACK |
| FATHER: (repeating) | Walk like a Skin |
| DAUGHTER: | I answer to the voices I answer to the voices in DarkTown/ I answer to the voices in BlackTown/The Town where Black people live I answer to the voices My Grandmother’s Tlin- git voice That whispers in my ear I see/dance with my Grandfather/ We sing a Red man Blues I am Tlingit/Lakota and Blues I am an electric slider/Tlingit/Lakota Ghost Dancer I’ve got Red/Black hands |
| I answer to all the voices | |
| I know that Blind Lemon Jefferson did the Ghost dance with Robert Johnson and Robert Johnson before selling his soul to the devil pulled out the Mojo and gave it to my Grandfather who kissed it and passed it on to my Father who passed it to me–I’ve got Red/Black hands |
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| Don’t tell me not to Ghost dance on the Res Call for my ancestors on the Res/ whisper Tlingit secrets to my Grandmother/ dance/Link Wray style Down at the Res/ I will rock the Res |
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| I’ve got | |
| FATHER: | Red/ |
| MOTHER: | Black |
| DAUGHTER: | hands Don’t anybody expect me to Shoot it Shoot Shoot it on Down |