The Dreams of Johnny Big Man

by Mark Wilde

Johnny was small. Like me he wore dirty
jeans and cowboy boots. His black hair
was straight, long. He said he was Pawnee.

He would dance and sing Dreams songs,
kicking up dust, clouding the hot south-
western sun, as we waited for tourists.

at night I wander

within a raincloud

at night I wander

weeping with the rain

at dawn I roam

carried by the wind

at dawn I roam

across the sky

We would drink Cokes spiked with vodka
I stole from my ole man, and listen
to country music radio from Tulsa.

We sat in the shade and watched heat
rise up from the highway. The stale air
burned our faces, chocked in our throats.

Johnny Big Man sang like his Grandfathers
for heat-dazed tourists as they pumped
gas, begging quarters for more smokes.

the rain comes down

at the edge of the earth

the rain comes down

and touches the land

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Last update: 10 May 2000

URL: http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/kaleidoscope/volume2/johnnybigman.html

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