The Haida people live where the land
wants to end but can’t quite.
Overturned by muscle
I went there seeking new ways to see.
I found some of their daily wealth–
endless butter clams in the tide’s outstretched arms.
On a linen nightstand for hungry daydreams
I saw a longhouse fire in old Haida eyes peering back at me
with a stare that saw beyond the horizon
as an eagle dancer from a high-prowed war canoe.
(A Haida Dancer was first published by Camel Saloon.)
Another fine poem, with characteristic power and surprise. The land wanting to end but can’t, the warrior culture lost but remaining as images with other uses.
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