Let's gather in our milky space

Ceremony for the overlooked people

Taxidermy at Eureka Clock in Eureka Springs, AR

Day 22 of 30 Days of Poetry, Autumn 2024

Let us gather in our
milky space for 
sacred ceremony. 
How shall we celebrate
our shallow-rooted customs,
our empire-mining ways?
Shall we drill for oil,
frack for coal?
Suffocate a native folk?
Plow under some
prairie grass?
Let’s start with 
God’s Pledge, then sing
our bombs-bursting love song --
that’s a Kan-sazz City
FIRST DOWN.
Everyone grab a
brat ’n’ a Natty Light--
Time to set shit on fire, 
time to waste some slugs.
Toss me some
balls or bags or insults,
let’s compare tattoos!
Swaying Sunday to 
How great thou art
we march boldly 
to the hunt down
impulse aisles:
Target ’n’ 
Sam's 'n' 
Bass Pro.

---

In New Zealand recently, opposition lawmakers — led by 22-year-old Parliament member Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke — performed the ceremonial Maori dance, the haka. This was during a reading of a bullshit bill that the right wing party wants to use to redefine the country’s founding treaty with its Indigenous people.

The video went viral. For me, I was struck with many feelings.

Just one thought that came up was: outside of religion — which is increasingly problematic in Western white culture — where is there any true ceremony in our white-ass world? What do we U.S. Caucasians have that might be anything like a haka to celebrate our “people”?

From there my thought went: what do we WOMEN have that would allow us — like Parliament member Maipi-Clarke — to scream our fucking heads off in Congress? Something tasteful, something demure…

Well, anyway, this dumb poem isn’t much of anything by way of containing all of the cascades of thoughts and complexity that arise from the conversation around this. It could not possibly corral the never-ending embarrassment of being a member of this humanity-crushing colonial race. Especially when there are folks proudly out there, bragging on their “white heritage.”

Note: that I am not embarrassed of who I am … I am just saying. God. What a time to be alive and white and privileged. ffs.

Further writing on this from The Guardian, which I found hilarious and also on point.

With love and smooches to my forever pal, Heather Pierce, for the word “ceremony”. Though I am pretty sure this isn’t what she had in mind! 🤣😂🤣