Language Dies in Hospital

Kay Hassan 

A language Died in Hospital
Without  plans  for   Pow wow
When Hazel Sampson,
 Of  Olympic Peninsula
The  descendant of Lord James Bach,
And  a grandmother
  Of four generations
Lay  in hospital  without clan’s  bows
By her language  like a queen  with  her crown
Klallam, Klallam, Klallam

Hazel neither  was  a cloud thunder,
Nor the  water of  Death Valley , or,
Apaches  of  the southwest terrain   ,
 Or had Cherokees’  Olive  skin
She was Hazel whose body was
shrouded with silk tram
And had  just lullabied
the last sweet  tongue  of Klallam;
Who  hunted, mated and  fought ,
for a thousand years , OR MORE,
And made the  lexicon for all deeds
But are now dying in  hospital ,
With her tongue and  her  language grammar.
But everything froze in one word.
 Klallam, Klallam, Klallam.

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