Dance of an Ojibwe Madman, a descent into the dirty Wisconsin River

i am descending							nin nissandawe . . . nin nissâtakoki
descending into the dirty Wisconsin River
descending into the Michigan prairie
descending with the north-wind			
the north-wind carries me into the descent		anibédina!

i fall
i see the Great Lakes

je tombe du Canada au nord de l’AMER			nin nissâkiwe
									   i c a
je vois la neige du ciel
le ciel tombe				    et moi . . .
je ne suis plus rien; je suis le tombeau
il fait froid cette nuit
c’est une nuit impossible!
c’est la vie sans amour!
c’est la vie absente!			¡ V I E		A B S E N T E !


the poem and its descent is the absent life
for it is, for it is your not-you

FOR iT IS yOUR not où

	your	nowhere . . . 	nulle part

	your 	parting . . .	the poem descends

into the earth and into the night of

	StONeS . . . 

 

 
i see a young woman with dark-skin
with dark brown eyes
and soft

but i can not touch her tones

i see a young woman with fine black hair
with straight strands falling down on her face
and a smile

but i dare not touch her lips

i sink back
i watch the room and her — 
with dark-skin

my heart beats — jumping jackrabbit

but i can not touch her tones I. 

 


i. nin nimiiwe
i make people dance,
i give a ball,
will you come dance with me?
if not tonight, then tomorrow?
 
ii. nin nimiidimin
we dance together, let us dance around the fire!
we dance together, let us embrace in love this night!
in the fire and during the night, we dance together
 
iii. anibédina!
the descent
 
iv. nin nissâkiwe
i descend a mountain, a hill, little matter!
 
v. nin nissâtakoki
i descend, i step down, i do not crawl — or perhaps i do.
 
vi. nin nissandawe
i descend! i fall down! ah!
i scream out,				“anibédina!”
it’s the impossible descent!
the descent!
i fall
i fall
and i fall

i scream out,				“anibédina!”