Fire Water World: Poems

by Adrian C. Louis

This tough little book of poems by Adrian C. Louis gives a deep yet hard-edged portrait of certain aspects of contemporary Amerindian life. It also delivers a powerful vision to transform the traps of that life. In "soft whiskey voices," he and a friend talk as they sit,"both of us forty with pony tails / grown down long to our Levi butts." Then casting a reflective eye on the past in the present, he declares: "Yes, there's something about being an Indian / we say as we exit into the warmth / of Hell's secondary nature, / a place we call the Fire Water World." ("Something About Being an Indiaif'). There are many sad drinking poems and much hurt and anger in these verses, yet a forceful directness compels our recognition. Some poems seem directed to his Amerindian brothers and sisters, some to all of us. In 'The First of the Month" he contemplates: "Against my dark void of memories of blood upon blood White Clay, Nebraska explodes with a thousand faces of my drunken race cashing their welfare checks." The language in this book is colloquial and blunt, yet inside a tradition where it cuts and turns on you like a knife in the sun. Sometimes it works for realism and irony: "We wait and wonder and didn't ask why / we sit in our cars drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon." Sometimes it delivers a mythic beauty as in this portrait of "South Dakota Woman": "In your flanks I saw the blood drive / of brood mares. / In your flanks I saw my warrior sons." In this fourth book of poems, Louis contemplates his university life, while now living and working with his brothers and sisters on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation of South Dakota. his perspective is important, for while his language is often concrete and direct, it also moves with a magical energy through deep images. In "Sweets for Dancing Bears" he moves from the sharp realism of "Rolling down the sawdust aisles of switchblade tavems" into the "Visionary delights to my stranger's brain" where he asks, "Was it my false fur flaming or the milk tit of rain?" and concludes, "My engines were flooded, the windows were broken, and the bears / those darrin bears were dancing." The book closes on Louis leaving two wino brothers in the bush to face the hail, knowing, "Pain is easier to deal with than spirits." His is an original and needed voice-moving from the death inside the present toward a new day. -- From Independent Publisher

Genres: Poetry, Native American

69 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Adrian C. Louis is a Lovelock Paiute author from Nevada now living on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. He has taught at Oglala Lakota College. His novel Skins (1995) discusses reservation life and issues such as poverty, alcoholism, and social problems and was the basis for the 2002 film, Skins. He has also published books of poetry and a collection of short stories, Wild Indians and Other Creatures (1996). His work is noted for its realism.

Reviews

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm surprised so many people rated this book so highly. Though it contains the wonderful poem "Couch Fantasy," it seems to me that most of the poetry in this volume tries rather than accomplishes. The poems focus on anger, bitterness and confusion, which is appropriate for a book about with the title "Fire Water World." However, I would only recommend it to hard core fans of Louis and/or Nat Amer Lit. I suggest to others to look up his later work. He has more range that you'll see in this volume.

[Jerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful lines like, "Tears upon the dry sponge of heart/do not prove I am promethean" often saves us from his outright, truthful, negativity.

A must read for those who want to understand Sherman Alexie and other Native writers that have followed either of them.

[Truls Ljungström · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mycket bra. Bra metaforer - måleriska på samma sätt som Snoilskys är. Bra story-tyngd - de flesta dikterna har ett enkelt men tydligt budskap. och om det svajar i några få av dem, så är trots det helheten mer än god nog att ha hemma.

[Andrew H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Immensely powerful. An important read. An important experience.

[Salamanderinspace · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a persistent sense of hate - for his people, himself, for life, for alcohol. The role of women is very narrow. I imagine his later works are better.

[Matt Mazenauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dour, angsty, negative view of the world that is worth dwelling in for the length of the book. At first it felt too repetitive, and i started to get dragged down by some weak entries that were less "learning about the (rightfully) bitter Native perspective on 80s America" and more "the author wrote a poem about a chore they did that day." But a handful of these are lightning bolts and that's all you can ask of a book of poems. "Elegy for the Forgotten Oldsmobile" was the standout for me.