Citizen Kane

Author(s): Sherman Alexie

Source: The Kenyon Review, New Series, Vol. 14, No. 3 (Summer, 1992), p. 47
Published by: Kenyon College
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4336708 .
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SHERMAN ALEXIE 47
CITIZEN KANE
How we are hungry for the word
to rise from our dark belly
past the throat and teeth,
one word
to change or not change
the world.
It doesn't matter which
as long as our failures are spectacular:
Big Mom lay on her cancer bed and cried out Frybread;
Lester slapped his drunk arms and legs and whispered Snakes;
Junior sold his blood for the 100th time and asked Forgiveness.
Believe me, nothing is forgotten for history.
Rosebud.
Believe me, nothing is innocent
when the camera rolls,
our sins are black and white.
Rosebud.
Listen: when the sun falls
audibly on the reservation
each of us chooses the word
that determines our dreams:
whiskey salmon absence.
This content downloaded from 192.167.204.6 on Sun, 6 Apr 2014 06:54:27 AM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions