Sherman Alexie
Sherman Alexie’s Substack Audio
Happy Dance
21
0:00
-3:45

Happy Dance

A poem
21




My tribe, the Spokanes, do a Happy Dance. Yes,
It’s called a Happy Dance, and yes, we two-step


In a circle to the powwow drum, drum, drumbeat,
And then, with laughter and screams of delight, we rush


Toward the center. We collapse the circle and become
One mass of happy Spokanes. Then we reform


The circle and rush back into the center again.
We do this for an entire song! We do this many times


Every year! Ah, listen to that glorious noise!
Ah, watch that endless circle of indigenous joy!




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