Before starting on separate paths back to the school,
Seth says, Don’t tell anyone.
Edmonia’s breath flows smoothly as a needle
through cloth. Her self fits within her skin
the way moccasins mold to feet,
a river wends through land,
or a crow slices her shape through the sky.
She says, I won’t tell. Ever since
she heard how her mother invited a man heading north
—a man who was free, but a dangerous color—
into her bark house, Edmonia understood
that hiding and courage were part of love.