Barbie Plenty Horses
by Maggie Jaffe


jumped the Rez.
It was either that or white man's
school where she learn sew
learn cook learn clean
learn English-not think, laugh,
dream.

An incorrigible Indian
giver swapped Barbie's horses
for land theft
fire water
wormy beef & moldy flour
diabetes & smallpox-
infested blankets.

Barbie Plenty Horses would like
a career change,
instead she got a name change:
Barbie No Horses
Barbie No
Barbie.

Copyright © 1999 Maggie Jaffe
All Rights Reserved

 
Maggie Jaffe's publications include How The West Was One, Continuous
Performance, 7th Circle
and 1492: What Is It Like To Be Discovered?,
a collaboration with the artist Deborah Small.  Maggie is the recipient of a 1997 California Arts Council grant and is Poetry Editor of
Cedar Hill Review and Editorial Assistant of Rattle.   She is presently working on The Prisons.
 

Also by Maggie Jaffe:

Saint Jean