American Poets; Simon Ortiz
by lizard
I picked up a used copy of Simon Ortiz’s collection of poems, entitled Out There Somewhere last week, and in thumbing through I ran across a poem featuring a familiar landscape and a familiar character who many of you in Missoula will probably recognize.
*
PAST POEMS
Where are the Indians in this crummy town?
My temptation is to go up to the first white man I see
and say, “Where are all the Indians in your crummy town?”
One of the hills overlooking Missoula has a big white M painted on it.
And another hill not far away has a big L.
Once in a poem I wrote there were Indians everywhere.
Maybe I was wrong. Maybe it isn’t true.
In another poem in another crummy town I wrote
“I just want to climb that hill, cross the next river,
go through that clump of trees, and see the earth new again”
or something like that. But a good poem.
Maybe I was wrong.
An older white man at the corner of Higgins & Main mumbles
incoherently and hollers very loudly, “Burn!”
“Burn!” Very loudly. Then more incoherent mumbles.
And then “Burn!” even more loudly, in fact, yelling this time.
When I walk by him close to the curb I see he has a worn Bible
clutched tightly in a skinny hand held at his side.
His other hand waving weakly seems detached somehow.
I find myself trembling with a mix of fear, compassion, love.
Love? And compassion? Yes. And I know I was not wrong.
Looking past a tall bank building I see the hillsides again.
They’re there, painted with the M and the L, theyre there.
A poem I wrote called “Claiming Territory” says it was easy
to cross prairie hills, see all that land, proclaim “This is mine!”
The prairies and rivers did not say anything.
The mountains and hills did not say anything.
Everything was astounded and quieted in dismay.
Earlier that day on my way from the airport to the hotel,
the airport van driver said, “You see new stuff everywhere.
Everywhere you look new construction is going on.”
I wonder about that Wisconsin Horse standing quietly
looking through the chain-link fence watching
and watching America building something else.
That was just a poem I tell myself; it was just a poem.
Later, on my walk back to the hotel in Missoula, I don’t see
the white man with the Bible who was yelling “Burn” loudly
and strangely I miss his stark avenging presence.
“Why?” I ask myself. And answer myself: He’s the man
who would have told me where all the Indians were.
Recent Comments
Miles on A New Shelter for Vets or an E… success rate for In… on Thirty years ago ARCO killed A… Warrior for the Lord on The Dark Side of Colorado Linda Kelley-Miller on The Dark Side of Colorado Dan on A New Shelter for Vets or an E… Former Prosecutor Se… on Former Chief Deputy County Att… JediPeaceFrog on Montana AG Tim Fox and US Rep.…
4&20 blackbirds 
March 25, 2011 at 11:49 pm
I’m pretty much a foreigner to poetry. But that one moved me. It really did.
March 26, 2011 at 7:14 am
very glad you liked it, pete.
March 26, 2011 at 6:13 pm
Thanks for the poem Lizard. While I don’t much care for the “crummy town” reference it is a poem that takes hold.
It might be worth noting for some of the more recent residents of Missoula that Ortiz’s man on the street corner yelling “Burn” was the unforgettable Forrest V. “Red” Bex, also known on the streets as The Reverend Red Bex.
You could see him day and night standing on his favorite downtown street corner, Bible in hand, preaching in a loud and at times incoherent voice his own version of hell and brimstone to anyone passing by.
While he could un-nerve and occasionally put a scare into anyone not familiar with his frequent shouts of “Burn” and “Repent”, he would always mumble a soft but appreciative “thank you” to anyone who stopped and wished him well. He warned of the approahing day of reckoning and took great pride in his self proclaimed title of “King of the streets.” He was frequently voted “favorite streetcorner prophet” in the annual Missoula Independent poll
Here is a copy of his obituary from the Missoulian:
****************
Forrest V. ‘Red’ Bex
MISSOULA – Legendary downtown street preacher Forrest V. “Red” Bex passed away quietly at Hillside Manor on Tuesday, March 18, 2003. He was 78. Red was born Dec. 15, 1924, in Dayton, Ohio.
Red was preceded in death by his spouses, Lorraine and Shirley.
His family includes three children, Eula Mae Zarling and her son Norman of Vancouver, Wash., Forrest Vernon “Butch” Bex Jr. of Missoula and David Bex, his wife Cindy and their children, Lorraine, Lacey, Sylvia, Krystal, David, Amanda, Stephanie and Hazel; two stepsons, Johan Stovall of Boise, Idaho, and Robert F. Stovall of Tucson, Ariz.; 15 step-grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; and numerous step-great-grandchildren.
Viewing will be from 9:30 a.m. until the service time of 11 a.m. Friday at Garden City Funeral Home. Burial will follow at Missoula Cemetery.
The family suggests that memorials be made to the Poverello Center, 535 Ryman, Missoula, MT 59802; or to the Police Auxiliary Association.
I tried to post a picture of Reverend Red but can’t make it stick. Here is the link to a Missoula Independent article with a picture of him: http://missoulanews.bigskypress.com/missoula/one-day-in-missoula/Content?oid=1132072
If I remember correctly, Al Pils and Josh Quick designed a T-Shirt that the Poverello sold in rememberance of Tommy the Leprechaun and Reverend Red. Pbear might remember more.
I never knew if the Reverend Red was simply following an old evangelical tradition of professing ones faith on the streets or if he was suffering from some deep demons of his own. Nevertheless, he and Tommy the Leprechaun were colorful parts of the down town Missoula scene for many years before they passed on. Rest In Peace.
March 26, 2011 at 6:30 pm
thank you Pogo.
and i agree the “crummy town” reference is a little hard to hear, but it comes from the projection of a native writer who is obviously struggling with feeling out of place in a town that was once the domain of the indigenous inhabitants of this “New World.”
and thank you for the link. I moved to town in 2000, so i remember Red, and i certainly remember Tommy. and yes, for awhile there were t-shirts with those colorful characters available for purchase to benefit the Pov.