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Galway Kinnell's Word Hoard
The runner-up, Sherman Alexie
 More of this Feature
• The original Word Hoard challenge
• Galway Kinnell's Word Hoard: The envelope, please
• The winner: Lorna Dee Cervantes
 
 Join the Discussion
The original challenge:
Want to see some of the other poems written in response to the word hoard challenge?
 
 Related Articles
• Our collection of Sherman Alexie links
 
 Elsewhere on the Web
• The official Sherman Alexie site
 

Sherman Alexie is three-time Champion of the World Heavyweight Poetry Bout, and will return to the Taos Poetry Circus in early June to defend his title against Saul Williams. Juliette Torrez reported on his first championship in 1998 for our Poetry Channel & Information Network, & we published her interview with Sherman not long after he successfully defended that title in 1999. Last year, he made it a three-peat against his 2000 challenger, your Guide Bob Holman. To read his work on the Net, visit our collection of Sherman Alexie links.

Sherman says: “I'm very honored to finish second to Lorna Dee. She's one of my favorite poets and human beings, so good for her...”


Sherman's entry came, as he says, “right out of the keyboard,” untitled:

Before we leave, old man, I button your coat to the top,
a simple gesture whose best ramification
is this: You will be warm when I hoist you
on my shoulders and carry you (my vagrant father,
my insulin shocker and DNA-carried-in-blood-and-saliva,
my wormwood end table and living room apocalypse,
my nomadic amputee and hypnopompic dog chasing coyote dreams)
outside into the fog that progs every pore of our American skin.

Sherman Alexie

Back to first page > The envelope, please > page 1, 2, 3



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