Poem: angry ancestors

I could see

my future

in shapes of her bones

struggled through

unimaginable brutality

persevered beyond

reason

now I am not half as brave,

nor as cruel

many paths I

never walk,

have never walked

who am I to judge the way another places their feet upon the ground?

Only because of her survival do I exist

she changed the world

so I could be soft

so my spirit could be gentle

she gave me

the will

to love

honestly,

more expressively than she could anger

---

Amy-Jo Setka

AMY-JO SETKA was born in Saskatoon. They received a certificate from the En’owkin School of Writing/Arts on the Okanagan Territory when the program was still running through University of Victoria, and a degree from the University of Saskatchewan in Indigenous Studies which they maintain is just the history of colonization and international illegal charter annexation in Canada. Currently Amy-Jo is the Membership Coordinator for SHFS, a Facepainting Fairy at many community events and an artist experimenting with paint, poetry and learning more of their lost Cree language so they will know what the Aunties are laughing about.

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