Your reflections
Tell me much
Of who you are
Who your people are
And the collective history
You all share

Your lineage is long
And the names
Come down from
Names
You are made
From these names

Family braids
Thick as rope
Pull you along
Bring you up
Save you from
Drowning
In anonymous
Seas

You call him
Uncle
And in your relation
Equation
It adds up
They call you sister
Biologically incorrect
Makes us reflect
On family

Generations to be
Rise like fire

j.rogers 10/03

Janet Marie Rogers is a transplanted Mohawk from Six Nations territory, now a happy resident of Victoria , British Columbia  since 1994. Janet began her art career as a visual artist. Since exploring her talents as a creative writer, Janet now performs her literary works as spoken word pieces to music and movement poetry. She shares this gift locally and abroad. For more information on Janet's work, you can contact her via email at: janetmarie@pacificcoast.net

ĆELÁNEN: A Journal of Indigenous Governance, February/2004, Vol 1, No. 1.
© 2004 -- Janet Marie Rogers