A Khasi youth expresses love and pride for his native land and culture. WORDS AND IMAGE    Carmel Fedrick Malngiang   Khasiland — The name of my homeland, Located somewhere on earth. Famous For its beauty, rain songs, and war Rich in culture and Unique in history. The aroma of love pervades the air, The

A statement of resolve and determination to reconnect to heritage. WORDS AND ART    Cheyenne Muscovich     I’m regrowing my tongue Yet still it is cut The field gets watered but the water is dirty It was used to wash the guilt of others’ pasts I’m regrowing my body It is stunted from the

A found poem that summons us to respect plants, listen to their wisdom, and learn their names. WORDS AND IMAGES    Lee Beavington   my grandfather was an expert   my father only learned some ……….I know almost nothing we hunt, see, pick, smell, gather, use, boil, taste red sap of the root bladder of

A poem that pays homage to trees as our Elders, life-givers, and first teachers. Chang Liu (劉長亭)   Disciple-less, you were dropping bushels of unrecorded wisdom all over the sidewalk in great pulpy explosions.   The owners were away for the summer — not to blame.   Years later, to my microphone a shriveled Ngäbere

Art that chooses to meet evil with beauty: A response to the discovery of mass graves of Indigenous residential school children. WORDS AND ART   Rose Imai   The first news stories came flooding into our consciousness telling of the unmarked graves of thousands of Native children Children who had been forcibly taken from their homes to

Fauzi Bin Abdul Majid My oxygen is love My oxygen is joy My oxygen is forgiveness My oxygen is nature My oxygen is togetherness Their oxygen is money Their oxygen is power Their oxygen is war Their oxygen is killing Their oxygen is hate They took my oxygen away, So they can breathe. They killed

Darryl Whetung Our spirit isn’t red skin, or light skin, brown skin, white skin Or if we have red hair, brown or black hair, when will the buffalo herd come back here? Are we raven or are we eagle? We are families, we are equals It’s our wigwam, it’s our war song, or the moon that

Teja Jonnalagadda We have fallen so far from where the water fell. There a wall stands now to power dishwashers, curling irons, flat screen TVs, and telephone poles. The fish no longer swim freely. Crawling up step ladders like meticulous marmosets. Flooded the valley floor, to ensure that we can always take more. We have

Chloe Dragon Smith On the Land We feel The roots beneath our languages— Twisting and turning, gnarly, knowing. On the Land We learn With bodymindheartandsoul, The truths that shaped our words Long before they were spoken. Language is more than words and Words hold more than any language Could ever explain. Simple rhythmic sound waves

David J. Rapport . Pregnant with Passion Nuances of Nature Permeate our senses Burnish feelings deep within Life and non-life cling to each other, incessantly In Mist on the Mountain Countless Creatures in the Canopy Take the Dance Sunbeams Synchronize Clocks of Cacophony . . Back to Vol. 9 | Read the Table of Contents | Like Our Stories?