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Your Nights
if we are going to be together
we are going
to need a system
of rules a treaty
an understanding you won’t
colonize my body but you’ll
come when you’re invited
bring gifts to the borders of me
we’ll learn to say thank you
in each other’s languages
we’ll learn the important phrases
don’t stop and I love you
we’re going to need to reach
some kind of agreement
your nights versus my nights
my nights are all leather and fatherless dark
all chasing pain and holding it there
your nights are for words and holding
things that are fragile
my nights are a cat of nine tails
against skin are all the things that come
bubbling and beading to the surface
your nights are remember when we were young
my nights are Japanese rope bondage
your nights are watercolors and cherry blossoms
I asked you to cover my mouth with your hand I
was feeling adventurous and after all
it was my night darling you refused
you couldn’t stand to see me silenced
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Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe is from the Upper Skagit and Nooksack Indian Tribes. Native to the Pacific Northwest she draws inspiration from her coastal heritage as well as her life in the city. She writes with a focus on trauma and resilience, ranging topics from PTSD, sexual violence, the work her great grandmother did for Lushootseed language revitalization, to loud basement punk shows and what it means to grow up mixed heritage. Sasha received a double MFA from The Institute of American Indian Arts with a focus on creative nonfiction and poetry. She teaches creative writing at the Native Pathways Program at Evergreen and has been a mentor for Seattle’s youth poet laureate program. Her memoir Red Paint has received starred reviews from Kirkus and Shelf Awareness and is available through Counterpoint Press. Her collection of poetry Rose Quartz is available through Milkweed Press. Thundersong, a collection of essays is forthcoming from Counterpoint Press in spring of 2024.
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Jeffrey Gibson. She Never Dances Alone, 2021. Acrylic on canvas, archival pigment on cotton, archival pigment on rice paper, inset in custom wood frame, glass beads, and artificial sinew; 87 3/8 x 79 5/16 x 2 9/16 in. Gochman Family Collection. Image courtesy of Jeffrey Gibson Studio. Photo: Max Yawney.
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Author: Terence Winch
