All Nonfiction
- Bullying
- Books
- Academic
- Author Interviews
- Celebrity interviews
- College Articles
- College Essays
- Educator of the Year
- Heroes
- Interviews
- Memoir
- Personal Experience
- Sports
- Travel & Culture
All Opinions
- Bullying
- Current Events / Politics
- Discrimination
- Drugs / Alcohol / Smoking
- Entertainment / Celebrities
- Environment
- Love / Relationships
- Movies / Music / TV
- Pop Culture / Trends
- School / College
- Social Issues / Civics
- Spirituality / Religion
- Sports / Hobbies
All Hot Topics
- Bullying
- Community Service
- Environment
- Health
- Letters to the Editor
- Pride & Prejudice
- What Matters
- Back
Summer Guide
- Program Links
- Program Reviews
- Back
College Guide
- College Links
- College Reviews
- College Essays
- College Articles
- Back
Sing Our Rivers Red MAG
May 1, 2017
Her bones droop like empty FEMA trailers
Hollow on the inside
Drifting between KILI and 93.1
I find myself lost in the AM frequencies
Thinking of where you’ve been
Thinking of the monsters
Clawing at your jaw
Ghosts of trauma and chaos
Stained into your bones
Your children only ever knew
The concept of love to be a synonym
Of mother
I learn your funeral will be the day
after a pow-wow
After they sweep away the beat of drums
And feet have been wrapped in beaded deer skin
After the walls forget the jingle of tobacco cans
They will wheel you in on your bed
Of forgotten dreams
And sing songs until
The rivers under their eyes turn red
© Alisha R., Kannapolis, NC
Similar Articles
Previous Next
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
This article has 3 comments.
crumpled_parchment GOLD said...
on Sep. 10 2017 at 10:16 pm
Beautiful poem. Keep writing. :)
I am Oglala Lakota from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Native women and LGBTQIA2 have the highest rates of going missing or ending up murdered. The MMIW (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women's) Movement is bringing awareness to this phenomena and colonial violence.
KILI is the name of a local Radio station on the reservation that also means, "Very Awesome" in Lakota.
"The Jingle of Tobacco Cans" is in reference to the use of chewing tobacco cans to make traditional joingle dresses used for dancing in pow-wows
"Sing Our Rivers Red" is a reference to a campaign that raises awareness for missing and murdered indigenous woman.