Anishinaabe Wandering

Kelsey on the Rez

In my car driving back into my history

People tell me how lucky I am
The beauty that surrounds
My knowledge tells me that
It is run down dirty and industrial

My car knows the way
Nearing the city
Stopping 
at the top of a hill

A cold blast of air greets me
Stop
Get out
Race around
Closing up windows

Keep distant the beauty
Barred by the industry that
Defined my life

Tucked in safe from the cold
The journey continues
Arriving at the lake that housed and fed my ancestors

Stepping out
The red dust covers my body
Entering every pore
Seeping deep
Down to
The molecular level
I am home

Walking along the shores of Lake Superior

Transfixed and transported
Back to the time of beauty

Before the shipyards
foghorns
oil spills
steel
and alcohol
scar my family

spin around - the Lighthouse disappears
the man made carved rocks
that mark the steps to the Lighthouse
explode and violently sink into the water

The destruction follows the path
The canal falls
the ships crumble

Moving back
before the glass beads and tobacco tins
of French fur trappers

Finally alone
Eagles, bears, turtles, cranes, foxes and martens
surround

Supported by the wisdom and love
of family and ancestors

The red dust is released
and forms a connectivity
to the sand and water

on the southern shores
of Lake Superior