Читать книгу Undoing Hours - Selina Boan - Страница 6

ask / what is the history / of a word / a lake of commas / a pause in the muscle of night / a dry river and the snow it holds / i am afraid of getting this life / wrong / a thick- rimmed fence / coins settled in a drawer for food / eat half a lemon and you’ll feel fine / i promise

in the dictionary / the nêhiyawêwin word mahtakoskacikew / translates to / s/he settles or lays on top of everything / i’ll tell you a story / i stained my hands as a kid in the backyard where i grew / peeling open walnut shells / trying to find the part i could eat

at sixteen / i scaled the green water tower / settled at the top for a better view / dreamt mother wasn’t young / driving a VW van cushioned with gas / hands on the wheel / wearing fire / she was / and i wanted to believe

from the ground up / growing / i never learned the hul’q’umi’num’ name for the place i lived till i was gone / there are earned stories / names you don’t share / i once slipped into the bay / cracked my feet on dock barnacles and bled / i wanted so many ways / to settle / our hearts / a window / a plot / a piece of land we wanted to call our own but was / not ours to name