Indian Arrowheads

Louis Copt “Morning Fog

 

Indian Arrowheads

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“Inside — soot from

a cold fire, powder

of bones, a piece

of ceremonial bone”

—William Stafford

“The Indian Cave

Jerry Ramsey Found”

Why the Sun Comes Up

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Richard Stauffer—

And James Swint

Picked me up one

Early Sat morning…

Arrowhead-hunting—

Southeast of town

Where I’d never been

Before back then…

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It was wet & cold—

Both of them were

Amateur archeologists

There in Kansas…

The hunting was good—

And there were these

Weird gothic hills that

Stuck up out of nowhere…

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They took me to see—

This old man who lived

In a huge stone mansion

Who was a collector too…

I stood in this room—

With glass-cabinets full

Of Osage Indian points

Plus lotsa prairie death…

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We stayed overnight—

The timber had a life all

Its own then us three

Got up in the morning…

Down this river trail—

Old limestone fence-posts

Still standing gaunt and

Scarred by barbed-wire…

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It was very scary—

For a sophomore kid

Like me a small-town

Naïve gawker type…

A cold Indian dawn—

The Mound People

Still all around and

Not a sound anywhere