The Last Time I Saw My Father
was November 28, 1999
in the afternoon Pacific Time.
He slipped from one shell into the sea
until another shell came his way.
On my dresser, he stands on a boulder
lodged in a river with rapids.
He smiles, teeth bared
like the grizzly bear on his shirt.
Bear was one of his totems,
as was Eagle with out-stretched talons.
And Dad still speaks to me
through Elvis songs on the radio.
Grandma Sings
for Grandma Hasbrook
her handwritin
makes me long for those fingers
pointin and flickin ashes
smoke curlin a story across
the dull brown table held by
scratched metal legs
she wrote a poem
of loneliness across the first
winter without grandpa
though she planned to quit him
before he took ill and left
by death
grandma keep singin
from your side of the veil
keep singin me to you
Selu
of the Cherokee
First Woman
Corn Mother
raises her hands
palms open
she sews peace in spirit
and a blanket of truth
over a land of plenty
survival
there is survival in movement
nothing stands still
there is constant motion in all of creation
the land presses layer upon layer
plates grate alongside
and below bodies of water
there is survival in movement
seeds catch animal fur
salmon spawn swift rivers
pollen rides wind currents
we are in constant motion with all of creation
hearts beating
neurons firing
intestines rippling
all in motion
with the moon
in orbit with the earth
in orbit with the sun
we are in constant motion with all of creation
do you stand still as a tornado
twirls toward you
or as an earthquake cracks
the land at your feet
there is survival in movement
do you remember how peoples have lived in motion
with all of creation to survive
in motion with the animals and plants and land
as workers move today
fleeing poverty and hunger and illness
do you remember how peoples have moved
with seasons and with herds to survive
as refugees move today
fleeing seasons of missiles and mines
fleeing herds of tanks and planes
let us remember
there is survival in movement
and how we are in constant motion
with all of creation
hearts beating
neurons firing
intestines rippling
all in motion
with the moon
in orbit with the earth
in orbit with the sun
remember
nothing stands still
