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Poetry for Children
Poetry Break #24

A poem by a poet who is Native American

I Rise, I Rise

I rise, I rise,
I, whose tread makes the earth to rumble.
I rise, I rise,
I, in whose thighs there is strength.
I rise, I rise,
I, who whips his back with his tail when in rage.
I rise, I rise,
I, in whose humped shoulder there is power.
I rise, I rise,
I, who shakes his mane when angered.
I rise, I rise,
I, whose horns are sharp and curved.

Collected by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve
in Dancing Teepees (Holiday House, 1989)

Introduction
This is a serious poem from an Osage prayer offered before a young man's first buffalo hunt-- a rite of passage into adulthood.

Extension
Divide the children into two groups to read the alternating lines chorally.