Welcome back to the Daily Poem, which is brought to you by bibliophiles.

I'm David Kern, and today is Tuesday, March 1st, 2022.

Today's poem is by an American novelist and poet and author of children's books, even.

Her name is Louise Erdrick.

She was born in 1954.

She is one of the most significant writers of what is called the Native American

Renaissance of literature. She's written 28 books, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and as I

mentioned, children's books. She's been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize multiple times,

and in 2021, she won for her novel The Knight Watchman.

She also received the National Book Award in 2012 for her novel The Roundhouse.

She's received multiple other awards, including the Library of Congress Prize for American

Fiction in 2015. And as a bookstore owner myself, I am excited to mention that she is also the owner of

Birch Bark Books, which is a small indie bookstore in the Minneapolis area that has a special

focus on Native American literature and the Native American community in her city. The poem that I'm

going to read today is consistent with that theme. It's called

Indian boarding school, The Runaways. This is a poem that was published in original fire,

selected and new poems from 2003. It goes like this. A home is the place we head for in our sleep.

Boxcars, stumbling north in dreams, don't wait for us.

We catch them on the run.

The rails, old lacerations that we love, shoot parallel across the face and break just under Turtle Mountains.

Riding scars, you can't get lost.

Home is the place they cross.

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