The theme this month is the ideologies that work destructively upon us. Norman has a lot to say about the anti-biological social myths that make us not realize or express our true natures and our true potentials, and that is the focus of Myth. A while back I was privileged to leaf thru a yearbook from a Reservation high school from when Jim Thorpe attended, and that is the inspiration for the cultural ideology resistance poem Reservation Football.

Myth
by Hersius

Myth locks us in our bedrooms
and takes away our supper
and tells us we are bad and disappointing.
Myth spanks us.
Myth yells at us
and threatens us
with what will happen when our dad gets home.
Myth makes it all our fault.
Myth compares us to others
and tells us what we are supposed to do differently.
Myth tells us “No,”
and insists on obedience in choices.
Myth insists on being affirmed in its role in our lives.
Myth tells us to feel guilty.
Myth tells us to stay dependent
and not grow up beyond its structure.
Myth is the time and place
we need to say good-bye to.

Reservation Football
by Hersius

The People's High School,
on the Res,
played football,
and the kids imagined themselves
fifty years earlier.
Dressed for contest,
boys faced known boys.
To the side,
where once women chanted insults
to opposing men,
cheerleaders chanted taunting names
to opposing players.
Hey, Throws-Football-Like-Girl!
Hey, Breaks-Wind-in-Class!
Hey, His-Girlfriend-Runs-Him!
The People's High School,
on the Res,
played football and imagined itself.