"The Reservation Cab Driver"
waits outside the Breakaway Bar
in the ’65 Malibu with no windshield.
It’s a beer a mile. No exceptions.
He picks up Lester Falls Apart
who lives in the West End 5
twelve miles away, good for a half-rack.
When congress raised the minimum wage
the reservation cab driver upped his rates
made it a beer and a cigarette each mile.
HUD evicted him
so he wrapped himself in old blankets
and slept in the front seat of his cab.
When the BIA rescinded his benefits
he added a can of commodities for every mile.
Seymour climbed in the cab
said, this is a hell of a pony.
Ain’t no pony, the reservation cab driver
said, it’s a car.
During the powwow, he works 24 hours a day
gets paid in quilts, beads, fry bread, firewood.
3 a.m., he picks up Crazy Horse hitchhiking.
Where are you going, asks the reservation cab driver.
Same place you are, Crazy Horse answers
somewhere way up the road.
1. We don't expect taxi drivers to work for beer and cigarettes. What does Alexie want us to see in this unexpected idea?
2.List numerous research topics this poem suggests?
2 answers