Weekly Poem: 'Ode to Mix Tapes'

**By Sherman Alexie** These days, it's too easy to make mix tapes. CD burners, iPods, and iTunes Have taken the place Of vinyl and cassette. And, soon Enough, clever introverts will create Quicker point-and-click ways to declare One's love, lust, friendship, and favor. But I miss the labor Of making old school mix tapes-- the mid air Acrobatics of recording one song At a time. It sometimes took days To play, choose, pause, Ponder, record, replay, erase, And replace. But there was no magic wand. It was blue-collar work. A great mix tape Was sculpture designed to seduce And let the hounds loose. A great mix tape was a three-chord parade Led by the first song, something bold and brave, A heat-seeker like Prince with "Cream," Or "Let's Get It on," by Marvin Gaye. The next song was always Patsy Cline's "Sweet Dreams," or something by Hank. But O, the last track Was the vessel that contained The most devotion and pain And made promises that you couldn't take back.   "Sherman Alexie":http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poet.html?id=81866 is a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian born on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Wash. He is the author of several novels and collections of short fiction and poetry, including "Face" and "War Dances," published this year. Alexie also co-wrote the screenplay for the movie "Smoke Signals," which won two awards at the Sundance Film Festival in 1998. You can learn more about Alexie at his Web site, "www.fallsapart.com":http://www.fallsapart.com/. We'll have a full profile of Alexie airing soon on the NewsHour.