It was so long ago
my son was three
the pilot of the floatplane
let him sit
up on his lap
and hold the joystick
in his hands
our hostess Dixie Belcher
brought us out
from Juneau just to hear
the Hoonah women sing
sisters and aunts
of her adoptive family the songs
were Tlingit chants
but sweetly harmonized
by these first nation people
like the Russian hymns
sung in the local church
even back then it seemed
to me more dream than real
the journey to Angoon