Clan

As a child,
my father had
certain knowledge
beaten out of him
in schools set up
to obliterate things
such as clans
and names for clans
and how to be part of
a clan.

It was knowledge
I therefore
never learned
so when
upon hearing about
my family
the woman mentioned
a  long-ago
Cherokee grandmother
and then
asked me
if we were
Wolf Clan,
I said,
“I’m more of a Linux man myself,”
and walked out.

Later that night came
juniper-soaked dreams
of telling this story
to a barroom full of wolves
who howled with laughter
while pumas slapped
their reversed knees.

“Forget about it, bud,”
said the bartender,
a personable hawk.

“You get used to them
trying to make you
into an archetype
after a while,
but to stay sane
you’ve got to kill
at least a few
of the stereotypes
if they don’t kill you first.”