A Poem, and An Aside

A poem to think about, that I didn't really understand, but its deep, it moved me when I read it. Ideas welcomed,

Love Song

I have loved you during the powwow
And I have loved you during the rodeo.
I have loved you from jail
And I have loved you from Browning, Montana.
I have loved you like a drum and drummer
And I have loved you like a holy man.
I have loved you with my tongue
And I have loved you with my hands.

But I haven't loved you like a scream.
And I haven't loved you like a moan.
And I haven't loved you like a laugh.
And I haven't loved you like a sigh.
And I haven't loved you like a cough.
And I haven't loved you well enough.

--Sherman Alexie


The Aside:

Washington people get lumped with Idaho, bumped with Oregon, stashed with Montana at times in a weird mix, and claim to be nothing but origional. I try to tell people what Washintonians are like, how from Seattle to Spokane, you are free to be what you want. It was one of the later states into the union and I think we keep that wild west, pioneering, free-thinking, not-bogged-down by too much history and tradition feel. It is as common to see someone in farmer gear, as gothic wear (even though it is out of date) or even a NorthFace fleece, kahki shorts and hiking boots. Nirvana and the grunge look come from Washington, Eastern Washington has tons of Mormons and various other religious conservatives. No, the whole state is NOT covered in pine trees, and we do have ethnic diversity, lots of Asian-Americans in the tech fields, and migrant Hispanics working in the farm fields, 29 different Indian tribes, that did NOT live in teepees, as well as Russian immigrants and German settlements--that have sausage festivals and lentil days. There is a huge rivalry between our two "big" schools, WSU and UW, and yes, at my high school, being smart and in honors classes was cool~.

Still, I don't know if it is all graspable, the unique flavor of Washington state. So, when I come across a passage so uniquely Washington, I have to annotate it. This is from Sherman Alexie's book, "Ten Little Indians." This passage is in reference to a lady politican, and it just struck me as funny, and could only be written by a Washintonian author.

"Yet another pretty liberal from Seattle! Her black business suit probably converted into a rainproof tent. She wore eyeliner, lipstick, and three-inch pumps at dinner, but she likely wore stupid T-shirts (George can't spell W!), blue jeans, and huge scuffed boots at the office. She'd probably run twenty-three marathons and climbed Mount Rainier sixteen times, and had great calves and extraordinary upperbody strength, and most certainly had scored 1545 on her SATs and earned some highly challenging and profoundly useless degree from an Ivy Leaque chop shop. She probably still had a cassette of the Smiths stuck in her car stereo: "Meat is murder! Meat is murder! Meat is murder!" I wanted her to fall in love with me," (Ten Little Indians, pg. 57.