In My First Visit
to the Mohawk Reservation
(Letter
to Ernesto Cardenal)
In
my first visit to the Mohawk reservation
Purity who drives the van
five miles ago she says we entered the reservation
And this is today's first surprise -no
border signals
no border police
no booth
no nothing at the reservation
One who visits needs
no passport
And I didn't have to pay any
taxes
In the Mohawk reservation with the Reebok sneakers
and my JCPenney
jeans folded up
and the red backpack with my green notebook of poems
-my notebook of
Breathing Exercises
and No Nature selected poems by Gary Snyder