Sure You Can Ask Me A Personal Question
by Diane Burns, 1989
How do you do?
No, I am not Chinese.
No, not Spanish.
No, I am American Indi—uh, Native American.
No, not from India.
No, not Apache
No, not Navajo.
No, not Sioux.
No, we are not extinct.
Yes, Indian.
Oh?
So that’s where you got those high
cheekbones.
Your great grandmother, huh?
An Indian Princess, huh?
Hair down to there?
Let me guess. Cherokee?
Oh, so you’ve had an Indian friend?
That close?
Oh, so you’ve had an Indian lover?
That tight?
Oh, so you’ve had an Indian
servant?
That much?
Yeah, it was awful what you guys
did to us.
It’s real decent of you to apologize.
No, I don’t know where you can get
peyote.
No, I don’t know where you can get Navajo rugs real cheap.
No, I didn’t make this. I bought it at
Bloomingdales.
Thank you. I like your hair too.
I don’t know if anyone knows
whether or not Cher is really
Indian.
No, I didn’t make it rain tonight.
Yeah. Uh-huh. Spirituality.
Uh-huh. Yeah. Spirituality. Uh-huh. Mother
Earth. Yeah. Uh’huh. Uh-huh. Spirituality.
No, I didn’t major in archery.
Yeah, a lot of us drink too much.
Some of us can’t drink enough.
This ain’t no stoic look.
This is my face.
Diane Burns 1957 -2006 |
