a field of insect-i-cides
“beneath umbrellas of drooping purple petals, sticks with triangular heads hold curved handles, thin membranes stretch for tiny legs to back—stroke . . .”
Poetry
Student 2020
Writing Contest Honorable Mentions
Díí ’Óólyé, This Is What It Means
“Shí’ee’ ’éí łeezh bee łíbá sílį́į́’ lá. My clothes became adorned with dust and dirt. ’Áko t’óó nízhónígo shí ’éé’ bík’ídíídláád. The Sun ribbons beautifully adorned my clothes.”
Digital Black Hole
“Your hollow rib cage echoes in silence as you float into the endless digital stream.”
Quercus
“With words about savages, standing too long in the sun to know what’s good for them. My mother stands strong. I raise myself higher, in proud nickel likeness.”
Old Dogs of Taos
“Old dogs of Taos, dream off wounds – together they sleep in shade under clouds, dozing off sunshine in the long shadow of the old earth house.”
Gimaamaaminaan Aki (Mother Earth)
“In the beginning, she gifted us life-giving waters. Swelling from underneath, she gave birth to the water panthers and horned serpents.”
Tasty Cake
“Gram made a humongous cake which laid out in a thousand rains. Thick ribbons of water, icing flowing down ruinous fringes of receding prairie.”
Forgotten Gender
Self Reflection by Casandra Artichoker of Sinte Gleska University
Gender comes and goes in different forms. Don’t feel lost or bad because this is what you are. To the ones that tried to force us out or forget us; you thought wrong. We are here to stay, together we …
Not Your TV Indian
Cansasa Wakan, Keep Tobacco Sacred by Marissa Irizarry of the Institute of American Indian Arts
Why are we the only ones who have to prove we exist? So many of us equate our Indianness with our blood quantum Our self-worth hanging on the edge of that number Like show horses or breeding dogs An imaginary …