A smudge and gift of tobacco tie
Given to me on the urban forest’s edge
Alive with spirits dancing with soles’
Muted drumbeat as the rhythm in their song
Lost sisters
Without their shoes
Lost sisters
Leave their markings
Velvet footprints
Next to Big Bear’s
Scarlet on
Big Bear’s Path
Remembered Sisters
Dance with us again
Daughter
Mother
Sister
Aunt
Grandmother
Lover
Best friend
Cousin
Classmate
Neighbor
~
NM
Included in Limited Edition Chapbook "They Sing to Us" (Ed. Brandt, Di, 2016, Radish Press). Unfortunately my surname was misspelled as "McKrith".
"They Sing to Us" was inspired by the Walking With Our Sisters Exhibit that was hosted at Brandon University in March of 2016. The exhibition featured 108 moccasin vamps created to honor the lives of children whose lives were lost in the residential school system. The original Walking With Our Sisters exhibition features 1,808 vamps commemorating the 1200 + Indigenous women and girls who have gone missing in Canada since 1980.