scars
decorate me
like text
revealing secret
stories
in skin

skin
stretching
as we grow
follows where we go
representing
flesh families

bruised
we come to you
beaten, hardened
healing
feeling our way

tattoos
tell us who
we are
clan crests
binding us together
distinguishing differences
in ink and skin

tones
of coloured contracts
blending
red with brown
earth toned totems
we stand our ground

rock
relations rising
sand bridges providing
passages
to expand

politics in skin
who wins
a pound of flesh
for freedom
naked exposure
sins

wrinkled
landscapesvwhere we play
we paid
in spades
for this land
they call home

decayed
relations
offer up backbone
from the grave
skin and privilege
are one in the same.

j.rogers 09/03

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