Thursday, August 18, 2005

Poem: Buck-man Knows

["Buck-man" is the pejorative term used in Guyana to describe the Amerindian People]
Buck-man knows...
Buck-man knows the trees around him...
Buck-man can retrace his way through the jungle...by the bend of a blade of grass...
Buck-man can find his way by looking at the stars...
Buck-man knows how to call to the birds and animals around him...
Buck-man knows how to move in a small boat on the water without sinking...
Buck-man knows which berries and leaves...fruits and flowers...
to eat in the forest...when he is hungry...
Buck-man knows how to move through the trees so silently...
that his dinner won't run away...
Buck-man knows how to put cunamee in the water...
so as to catch many fish quickly...
Buck-man knows how to make small arrows tipped with curare...or other things...
so that he can hunt animals without scaring all away...
Buck-man knows how to draw shapes in the sand with a stick...that make him smile...
Buck-man knows how to move bare-footed and bare-skinned...
through the jungle thorns...brambles...snakes...scorpions...jaguars and the rest...
Buck-man knows how from looking at the sky...if the rain is coming...
or if the sun will stay for a while...
Buck-man knows from looking at the moon...how high the tide will be...
Buck-man knows how to get better when he's sick by using...
the leaves...bark...juices...fruits...of the trees and plants around him...
Buck-man knows how to make all the things he needs...
to live in the jungle...from what he finds in the jungle...
Buck-man knows...
Tell me town-man...what do you know...in your jungle...?

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