AntiPoem 19
“Apache”

(Poet’s Instruction: Softly play “Apache” by Jorgen Ingmann, 1961, while reading)

Olathe and Yamka
Cochise and 
Mescalero 
Varlebena - forever
Ya’ateh – Hello to
These streaming flower gardens 
These feathered priests of Gaan 
Their white flags of truce burning 

Geronimo
You can fly now
Fly as an osprey conquering
Retaking the cottonwoods of Tubac
Feasting on rabbit and mourning dove
Drop seed grass and agave blossom
Hating the white lies the soft knives

Mangas 
You are the blood warrior in the stars 
Brave as the wind pinned to the sky
T`Inde, Inde, N`dee, N`ne
Your children still sing the old songs
Voicing the call of the spirit dancers
The crown dancers of Pinos Altos
Lipan and Salinero

Gaan is pointing now 
East west north and south 
To Cookes Canyon and
The Florida Mountains
Your sleeping villages 
Dream again the heartbreak 
Of Dragoon Springs
Humility’s white flag hoisted 
With Mangas’ head 
Boiled for the white owls 
Dangling with lizard tongues
The atrocities of Adobe Wells
Visiting upon the noble innocents 
We can hear them again the
Apache choirs of the dead 
Screaming into the savage night
The high mountain spirits forever 
Bringing dreams of sky-blue light 
The streaming peaceful flower gardens
T`Inde, Inde, N`dee, N`ne