Ei Yesiw Awasis (Thunder Child)
By Sarain Soonias
walk for a day around a rectangle
start in the morning
return at dusk
your uncle had buffalo in the pen
near where the adventure happened
what if you were always brave
is it still a rectangle
would the beast care if you had fight
there is a rectangle and
many spend much much time
in a pen they chew swallow digest
but the buffalo are gone now
who is in the pen
there is a tall fat man
who laughs loudly above them all
he doesnt belong and smiles unnatural
breathes unnatural dying on his feet
but lives forever
im gonna kill him
people need to get to the creek where the adventure happened
drink and poke your nose in the water
there is a rectangle you walk around
in the hot sun
in the hot hot sun
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sarain Keeshig-Soonias is a Cree/Ojibwe writer residing in Vancouver, BC. Keeshig-Soonias is inspired by his evolving relationship with shared intergenerational experience, (de)colonization, trauma, mental health, and healing. Poetry from his collection, All Wrong Horses On Fire That Go Away In The Rain, has been featured in carte blanche, The Temz Review, and Shrapnel, and will appear in forthcoming issues of Carousel, Femke, The Windsor Review, Tarot, and The Queen’s Quarterly. He is currently seeking representation.
Translated by Alex Niemi from Vincent Tholomé
I revel for three days in shaggy fur
I stink a beast and a bug
a cow tail whips my brow