The Unauthorized Biography of Lester Fallsapart

The Unauthorized Biography of Lester Fallsapart


1.
Born on Christmas Day
& named __________

unpronounceable
in English & Indian

but it means HE WHO HUNTS
WITH A CROOKED BOW

& ONE BAD ARROW
LOOKING FOR ENOUGH DEER

WILL FEED THE ENTIRE TRIBE.
We just call him Lester.

2.
1979
in the dumpster reservation

behind the Trading Post.
Lester, is that you

shoved into a bottle
of Thunderbird Wine

piece by piece
like those hobby shops

we call minor miracles?
It takes years

to destroy yourself this way
without a reason to live

& not enough money
to buy a quick death.


3.
Stray dogs
sleep next to Lester

close
to whatever warmth

he has left.
I remember one mongrel

followed Lester all
over the reservation

as he collected
cans on roadsides.

The dog chased cars
half-crazed & half-exact.

That mutt is my cousin
Lester told us.

When the dog died
torn under a logging truck

Lester wept & refused to leave
his body in the ditch.

4.
The smallest pain
can change the world.

5.
1966
& the post office refused

to deliver Lester's mail
because he lived in a tipi

his life collected
in the dead letter box:

draft notice
postcards from Columbus

form letter
addressed incorrectly

to LESTER FELL APART.
Years later

as Lester pawned
his Purple Heart

he gave me that letter
& said

Somebody knew about my future
and tried to warn me.

Tell me, Lester
have you learned the best weapons

don't leave physical evidence?
In your mind

Viet Nam & the reservation
fancydance together.

6.
Unemployment checks
weigh more

than your own body
laid across the spine.

Lester, have you tried
to find work this week?

Nothing left
on the reservation

but buckets of dirty water
at the uranium mine

& Lester refuses
to carry that burden.

There are things I won't do
no matter how hungry I get

Lester tells me
as we travel into the trees

to cut a few cords
of firewood

for a flame
Lester will never feel.

Old women
pay Lester a few dollars

to carry groceries
from the Trading Post.

Old men
give Lester a shot

from their whiskey bottles
in a tribal gesture.

On warm nights
Lester sleeps

under a picnic table
in the BIA compound.

Sleeping outdoors
gives me strange dreams

Lester tells me
as we stop

next to the largest pine tree
on the reservation.

Then Lester jumps
from the truck

raises my axe
above his head

looking to make
the final cut.

7.
Still, Lester sings
a good song & drums

like he could begin
this game again

roll the dice
pass GO

& collect his $200.
Day by day

he survives
this way.


Sherman Alexie........from Old Shirts & New Skins