THE BETTING
The men go for horses
that have walked away
to find grass to eat.
The women put blankets
and food in the wagons.
My uncle tells my father
to wait awhile
because
my uncle says
he knows a man
who has a horse
that can win a race.
All the men stand around.
They talk together
about this horse.
My father gets the things
out of the wagon
that my mother has put in it.
He is going to bet them
on this horse
that my uncle says
can win a race.
The Trader comes.
He does not like the horse
my uncle knows.
He puts up a hundred dollars
against the horse.
All the Indian men
take off their concho belts
and rings and turquoise
and bowguards and blankets.
They throw them on the ground
to make a pile of things
as much as a hundred dollars.
They say,
"We will run
to that place
and back."
They mount their horses.
They line them up.
One man stands by
the pool of things
that are being bet
against the hundred dollars.
With another man
my father bets his bowguard
against a concho belt
on that horse
my uncle knows.
The men choose a flat place
to run the race.
