Tulsa

I had a great friend
in Tulsa, Oklahoma
A Muscogee Creek Woman
at the basement rock show

the last time i was there
she made a pinion fire
and she talked about ghosts and old paranormal stories
one about a ball of life that had entered in her body

later that night
i cannot fall asleep
i was thinking bout the spirit in the half breed's graveyard
and the picture on the wall
out to me she did recall
i went to sleep
her grandpa cursed the white man in his language

and on the floor i lay
more embarrassed than afraid
a low muttered curse became the sound of women laughing...

I propped up my head
in the darkness i reread
a photocopied interview
of the man in the photograph

Mose Wiley: A biography, Works Progress Administration
Here is some of what he said:

"I am a Creek Indian
born in 1886
4 miles east of
Ana, Oklahoma
My father's name was Willie Kautale
A full blooded Creek
he had little education
my mother's name it was Polly Watson
and she belonged a Lady's Society
she was a baptist
so was my father
and I myself am a Baptist Minister
when i was a boy
at the age of 8 years
very few Creek had plows or a wagon
if you had a plow, pony, shovel or a wagon
it was no lie if you called yourself a rich man
farms those days were
5 or 6 acres
corn hand planted
3 kernels to a hill
if you wanted hog meat you could always have some
the woods were full of wild pig all year long
and money was not used
if we had to pay the bills
Chief would pay the blacksmith
we would pay the doctor.
Groups would form and
got a lot of wood and
did all the things that the doctors needed done."

Sometimes I'm sure,
I'm really quite sure that the obscure images have a great significance
The ice berg tipped
the hull the on the ship, theres an awful lot of love it's got to make a little difference.