Poems by Sherman Alexie

Sherman Alexie

Sherman Alexie

Sherman Alexie's awards and honors include the 2007 Western Literature Association's Distinguished Achievement Award and the 2003 Regents' Distinguished Alumnus Award, Washington State University's highest honor for alumni. His work was selected for inclusion in The Best American Short Stories 2004, edited by Lorrie Moore, and Pushcart Prize XXIX Best of the Small Presses. Alexie's most recent novels are Flight, released in April 2007 by Grove/ Atlantic, and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, his first young adult novel, published in September 2007 by Little, Brown. Hanging Loose Press will release a new collection of his poems, Face, in March 2009. Sherman Alexie lives in Seattle, WA, with his wife and two sons.

Hypothesis

Somebody left the bicycle frame
Chained to the telephone pole, 
But stole the wheels
And ring-tossed them
Onto the hand-and-foot holds
Twenty-five feet above me.
How dexterous! How glorious!
Suddenly, I realize 
This little bit of vandalism 
Was an act of love.

 

 

 

Disguise

If I ever decide to rob a bank, 
I'll wear full war dance regalia.
Nobody will believe that an Indian
Would so obviously hide 
Behind all those feathers and war paint.

 

 

 

Yes, It Rains All the Time in Seattle

Sun for the first time
In fifty-six days,
But all I notice
Is the man in sandals
Who needs to cut his toenails. 
When it comes to singing
About beauty, I often fail.