Chrystos

Menominee

Song for a Lakota Woman

As we came
around the curve
of a bluff the lake opened on spread wings
of a white egret
You turned to me with tiny wildflowers in your hands
murmuring softly Winyan Menominee
Anpetu Kin Lila Wasté *
All my feathers shone in your voice
Brushing through leaves growing from fiery red earth
We came to a place where we knew
our mouths would meet
Hurrying to an anonymous room
we showered and plunged into bed
Your soft arms shining brown over me turning
me wild in your hands
a flying lake that drank
flowers in your eyes
as I shouted too loudly coming
open


* Menominee woman you are good and beautiful

en Julia Penelope & Susan Wolfe (ed.), Lesbian Culture: An Anthology, Freedom, CA: The Crossing Press, 1993