Dan George
--Mike Puhallo from "Still Rhymin' on the Range"
Hancock House Publications 

I felt as if he spoke to me
and not to others there.
And I suppose the others felt the same
each frozen in their own chair.
His speech was soft and easy
each word and moral true.
He filled that high school gym with visions
of a path both old and new.

A path where white and redmen
could walk each side by side.
The path of understanding
where BOTH could walk in pride.
It wasn't just his words
that left a mark on me.
But the mastery with which he spoke
was a splendid thing to see.

A dream weaver from the old school
he held your heart and soul entwined.
While he painted soaring eagles
on the canvas of your mind.

He spoke of native values
how his culture now seemed lost.
Like a fragile mountain lily
killed by an early frost.
Yet, hope is always in his voice
his passion filled the air.
This quiet withered bent old man
with his piercing eagle stare.

In the end he asked for patience
"our journey has been long."
The kind of trip that strains
the soul of both the weak and strong.
From the stone age to the atom bomb
in one lifetime, Here we are!
No whiteman has ever traveled
half as fast or far!

To order or request information on Mike's poems, write:

Hancock House Publishers Ltd.
19313 Zero Avenue, Surrey, B.C. V4P 1M7
(604) 538-1114 Fax (604) 538-2262

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