Elise Paschen
Wa-zhaβ-zhe, name of the Osage tribe . . . who came from the stars.
ββThe Osage and the Invisible World: From the Works of Francis LaFlescheβ
The first language
π·ππ»ππ»π which Eliza,
her grandmother, spoke.
I try to learn
the words π£π
from a book, a dictionary.
What was my mother taught
as a young girl sitting
on the front stoop
of her grandmaβs house
inhabited by half-brothers
she revered. Her favorite,
Hunky, hand outstretched,
showed her how to catch
the wild horse
π€ππ·π π·ππ²ππΈπ£
unbridled in the pasture.
She knotted a paisley
bandana around her
neck. This language
for throat π°πͺπ²π
and tongue π΅ππΊπ β
words she learns
to speak but then
forgets. She loosens
π·ππ΅π£Ν the rope
from the horseβs crest.
The Osage orthography
ππ°ππ°ππ· Osage
π»π· words
πΌπ°ππ° ππ°ππ·ππ» wild horse
ππππ· throat
ππ·ππ· tongue
ππ·ππ»Ν rope
Copyright Β© 2024 by Elise Paschen. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on November 12, 2024, by the Academy of American Poets.
More about this poet on the page at https://poets.org/poem/wahzhazheosag
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