Sampling Sherman Alexi

Up is down when
even the scientist knows
that gravity is overrated

Up is down when
the invisible clouds covered the stars
in her eyes that drove the darkness

Up is down when
big mountains range as dormant volcanoes

Up is down when
I pick up all Indian hitchhikers
and bring them a little closer to home

Up is down when
I can ask someone close if
he is like the toughest indian in the world

Up is down when
Rising from earth to sky
he became a new constellation

Up is down when
I wondered if I were a warrior
In this or a previous life

Up is down when
I traveled up river toward the place where
I was born and
my heart was filled with the thin white skeletons of
one thousand salmon.