*Mvskoke (Muscogee)—hokte: woman, honvnwv: man, hecet os: to see
hokte hokte honvnwv*
begin here
with the clay she says
under her breath a handful of earth
from silt-bottomed streams
loosens between fingers water
echoes in an empty bowl hokte
hoktet hecet os*
I was birthed of mud blood
And bone hokte
hoktet hecet os
glass globes
inside my tin belly
echo of water
in an empty bowl
I remember the sound of her soft
body hokte
hokte honvnwv
Have just begun
to bleed today
thought I might be dying
walked barefoot beyond
the backyard
over the cattle guard hokte
hokte honvnwv
each grass blade
a rusted glint in the circular
basin of bison
grazing clay rims
the water colored sky
in the empty bowl
water echoes
when we walk
horizons shift how to call them
closer feel their white tufts
between fingertips hokte
hokte honvnwv
*Mvskoke (Muscogee)—hokte: woman, honvnwv: man, hecet os: to see