#J28
last year, i never imagined we would be
round dancing in Glenmore Landing
round dancing in Chinook Centre
round dancing in Olympic Plaza
round dancing in Metrotown
round dancing in West Edmonton Mall
round dancing outside the Cayuga courthouse
round dancing on Akwesasne
round dancing on Strombo
hych’ka!
mahsi cho!
welalin!
miigwetch!
drumming at Waterfront Station
drumming at the United Nations
drumming at Columbia University
drumming at Granville & Georgia
drumming at Dalhousie University
drumming at the Peace Arch
drumming on Wellington Street
drumming on Lubicon lands
drumming in Owen Sound
drumming in Thunder Bay
drumming in Somba K’e
drumming in Chicago
drumming in Chilliwack
drumming in Kitimat
taking a much needed pause for thought
on tarsands Highway 63
on the 401
on cn rail tracks
with Aamjiwnaang courage
a human river on Ambassador Bridge
time to stop and respect
remember we are all treaty people
unless we live on unceded lands
where ignorant guests can learn to be better ones
by repealing C-45, for starters
we have to stand together in many places all at once
J11, J16, J28
Indigenous spring
Eighth Fire summer
autumn wisdom
winter sleep to
renew Indigenous spring
again & again
it is Gandhi we need to align ourselves with
Gandhi and Gaia and Vandana and Maude & marbled murrelets & mycorrhizal mats
Winona and Ward and Jaggi and Arundhati & phytoplankton & peregrine falcons
Naomi and Oren and Toghestiy and Jeannette and Lee & bittermelon & bees
Percy and Shiv and Jack and Elizabeth & chrysanthemum greens & canola, now radiated
Yoko and Yes Men and Chrystos and Dionne & dolphins & prairie dogs
Theresa and Melina and Pamela and Rosa Parks & salmon & cedar
Wab and Harsha and Clayton and Eriel & eider ducks & water bears
Takaiya and Roxanna and Glen and David & wolves & whales
there is a time for pies and there is a time for rocks & beavers & snowy plovers
there is a time for poems & a time for rifles & coral reefs & caribou
there is also a time for the Haudenosaunee Wampum Belt
a time for you
two rivers running side by side
(as long as one party doesn’t try to dam, kill the other’s river)
and a time for spinning wheels
it is Super Barrio, who stopped 10,000 evictions in Mexico, who i look to
it is the Zapatistas, the Mohawks, the KI, the Lhe Lin Liyin
the Mother Earth Water Walkers, the 20-year-olds suddenly in Parliament, the grannies & the grandkids
it is the children i will never see, but who i hope will live and drink clean, wild water
with gratitude to Chief Theresa Spence and Idle No More for participatory leadership in the service of lands, waters & all living beings
