Indian Cemetery, Madeline Island Wisconsin
by Ray Sharp

The little church by the south harbor
is long gone, but a few graves remain
in the weeds under the old maple tree.

You can make out some names
on cracked and weathered stones, Cadeau
and Cadotte, French Catholic Chippewas.

They still leave offerings of coins and cigarettes,
the currencies of this world if not the next,
as if they could buy a little precious time.

Ray Sharp lives in the rural, rugged and remote Upper Peninsula of Michigan, near Lake Superior. He will be the featured poet in the June 2012 edition of Contemporary American Voices, and his debut poetry collection, Memories of When We Were Birds, will be published in 2012. His poems have appeared in many on-line and print journals, and can be seen at http://www.raysharp.wordpress.com.