Velroy and the Madischie Mafia

by Sy Hoahwah

The bayou dries up at the edges
The place desires sunken cars and compromised love

The old clapboard mansion disappears
Tornados and UFOs are working together

Sounds of a chainsaw on the trail
Sounds of hunger in an angry man

Barbwire on the horizon
A red horse stands up, steps over like a human

I am still thinking about the ghost
It is still thinking about me

I watch white dogs of the dawn
A hand struggles at the water’s surface

— “Plum Bayou Combinations”

In southwestern Oklahoma an intricate sense of community exists in the small neighborhoods of Comanche Tribal Housing like Madischie. From its streets comes a hell-bent young crew of Comanche, Arapahoe and Kiowa toughs led by a young Comanche named Velroy. They seek power within a subculture of organized crime, caught in the century-long transformation from the old Comanche Nation, “Lords of the Plains,” to a modern-day casino-owning tribe. This is their story, told in a distinctive narrative poetry with its honed syntax, wild imagery and a splash of high lyricism. This is also an innovative first book, borrowing from the pan-tribal mixed culture of comic books, crime shows and contemporary satire.

“The music is somewhere between dj scratching with a hip and a hop, powwow, 49, and peyote ceremony drumming. There are raids, ghosts with a terrible sense of humor, out-of-control Indian cars, and the need for a vision that will carry through in this strange age of split paths. Hoahwah’s finding the way to navigate the Comanche soul in these poems: by listening, taking it all down and singing it back.” —Joy Harjo

“In a remarkable poetic gesture, Hoahwah’s book echoes our own ‘hunger to answer’ old languages heard in the dark.” —Kimberley Baeser

6 x 9 inches • 58 pages • ISBN 978-0-9816693-7-3 • $12.95