Little Brother and Tall Boy

Here on the land

created by wasi'chu

Little Brother looks up to Tall Boy

Tall Boy takes him to the prairie

and tells him stories he learned

from the ghosts who now sleep

Here on the prairie Tall Boy

is a hero to the younger children

because he leads his war party

to victory after victory

Little Brother falls down a lot

and Tall Boy picks him up

to put him on his shoulders

Little Brother loves the ride

but gets too excited

while getting dizzy

Tall Boy understands

that Little Brother's mother

went to White Clay once to often

So now Little Brother is

the butt of jokes at school

from his own people

some of whom have
fetal alcohol syndrome too

He goes out to the prairie

to throw a stick for dog

Dog is his best friend

after Tall Boy

Tall Boy gets the cheers

pats on the back

calls from giggling girls

who are too shy to say anything

across the invisible wires

One day Tall Boy got mad

and jumped so high

he put two holes in the ceiling

on either side of a beam

Little Brother goes to see his

friend because it's been a bad day

He finds Tall Boy sleeping
at the end of a rope
beneath the beam

that holds up the roof

Little Brother will ask his mother

when she wakes up

when Tall Boy can carry

him on his shoulders

Tall Boy will sleep a long time

beyond his life on the reservation

beyond the life of stars

beyond the time of ghosts

Barry G. Wick