Oh, I have a new one--
that my students went to the Smithsonian.
This is in Southern Maryland.
And they saw the picture of she who was called Pocahontas.
First of all, they told me that wasn't her
because they'd seen the Disney movie-- animation, mind you.
And so, she didn't look like that.
Now, I think they thought she looked
a lot like the animation.
I don't know.
And they thought the romance was so beautiful, you know?
And I was amazed, as I often am, about young people.
This poem is called "Mataoka."
And the whole story about her being in love with him--
first of all, she was supposed to be 12 or 14,
and he was an older man.
And it might be an older man's fantasy,
but I don't believe she fell in love with John Smith.
But I could be wrong.
I always take into account that I could be wrong.
And this is her take on the story thus far.
"Mataoka"-- actual name of Pocahontas.
"In the dream, was white men walking up from the river.
In the dream, was our land stolen away
and our horses and our names.
In the dream was my father fighting to save us.
In the dream, the pipe was broken,
and I was leaning my body across the whimpering, white man.
If our father loves revenge more than he loves his children,
spoke the dream, we need to know it now.
Think of the president, if you will--
if you can-- if it doesn't bother you."