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Red Running Into Water
tsi’naajinii nishłí
pronounce the ł as water whistling through shadow
on black bark
the í as boy wearing only yucca
lake colored
tábąąhá báshíshchíín
the í is now mouth of narrow stream
inside a pink mobile home with white skirting
the ą sounds like pulling hair
from the throat
shaped like the á
táchii’nii dashícheii
the á now a head busted open
red running into water
the í is the boy now naked
red running into water
tódik’ǫzhí dashinálí
boy has the ó for mouth
washed with memory of salt water
pronounce this á as rain cloud
belly up
the í still the boy floating on the lake
except it is a field
his mouth left ǫ
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Drift(er)
after “Benson James, drifter. Route 66, Gallup, NM 1979” by Richard Avedon
Drift
to drift is to be carried by current of air or water
but men are not the teeth
of their verbs
they pry nouns open with a belt buckle
to take a sip
Drifter
a drifter carried by a current of air or water
makes his way from one place to another
see vagabond, see transient, see
drunk
see a man with shoulder-length hair
dollar bills fisted standing before a white screen
see his lips how still
how horizon
how sunset
a train
passing through
I try to hug him
through the spine
left on the white space
his face becomes a mirror
if I stare long enough
my face
charcoaled
pursed squinting
at the camera
train horn
punch shatters
the mirror
frees him from the page
my uncle leaps from the
From Hunger Mountain Issue 23: Silence & Power, which you can purchase here.
Art by @anna_croc01, curated by Dana Lyons.
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[av_one_half]Jake Skeets is Black Streak Wood, born for Water’s Edge. He is Diné from the Navajo Nation and holds an MFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts. His work has appeared in Boston Review, Waxwing, and elsewhere. He is a winner of the 2018 Discovery/Boston Review Poetry Prize. His first collection, EYES BOTTLE DARK WITH A MOUTHFUL OF FLOWERS, won the 2018 National Poetry Series and was published by Milkweed in 2019.[/av_one_half]
[av_hr class=’custom’ height=’50’ shadow=’no-shadow’ position=’center’ custom_border=’av-border-fat’ custom_width=’100%’ custom_border_color=’#8f2f66′ custom_margin_top=’30px’ custom_margin_bottom=’30px’ icon_select=’no’ custom_icon_color=” icon=’ue808′ font=’entypo-fontello’ admin_preview_bg=”]Adidas shoes | Men's Sneakers