Carnegie, Oklahoma, 1919

Painting by Howard Terpning

Carnegie, Oklahoma, 1919


This afternoon is older
than the giving of gifts
and the rhythmic scraping of the red earth.
My father’s father’s name is called,
and the gift horse stutters out, whole,
the whole horizon in its eyes.
In the giveaway is beaded
the blood memories of fathers and sons.
Oh, there is nothing like this afternoon
in all the miles and years around,
and I am not here,
but, grandfather, father, I am here.


By N. Scott Momaday
From In the Presence of the Sun,