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she gathers the ivigaaq
blade by blade talking to the long ones leaving the short ones flashes of her other skin swim near her the clocks work shoes mingle masks she learned to dance in conference rooms future movements in artificial spaces far away here now on the tundra her masks consumed nearby beach fire she sang alight here now as she gathers ivigaaq the blades want to hear about the sound of her heels on concrete they ask how animals cross through metal the long ones stretch out hoping she will pick them the short blades listen she has an ivigaaq design song ready to sing yet the blades of all lengths yearn to hear more stories of the plastic world inquisitive ivigaaq want to know want to hold all of her parts together tight |
quŋulliq
expands in seal oil remembers when the great-great sat at the same spot leaving some to sing songs into the earth now the song has shifted like the wind changed direction the great-great granddaughter repeats a motion strains to hear a whisper going between the new shoots a break trance going back one thousand years moment these roots remember deep |
taqalukisaksraq
let me lay in a field of you pretend I am asleep taqalukisaksraq let me sing a song to you a transformation song taqalukisaksraq maybe from the corner of my eye (as my other eye dances with a cloud) maybe you will trust me like you trusted my great-great-great we have the same name taqalukisaksraq I am my Ancestor returned fly up up my eyes are soft nearby taqalukisaksraq take flight |
Allison Akootchook Warden is an Iñupiaq poet who lives in Anchorage, Alaska. She is a creative writing alumna of the Djerassi Resident Artist Program. Her book of twitter poems, "TAIMANISAAQ/AKKUPAK (long long time ago/right now)" was published by the Anchorage Museum in May 2017.
