Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe: Pick of the Week [ed. Terence Winch]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Your Nights

 

if we are going to be together

we are going

 

to need a system

of rules a treaty

 

an understanding you won’t

colonize my body but you’ll

 

come when you’re invited

bring gifts to the borders of me

 

we’ll learn to say thank you

in each other’s languages

 

we’ll learn the important phrases

don’t stop and I love you

 

we’re going to need to reach

some kind of agreement

 

your nights versus my nights

 

my nights are all leather and fatherless dark

all chasing pain and holding it there

 

your nights are for words and holding

things that are fragile

 

my nights are a cat of nine tails

against skin are all the things that come

 

bubbling and beading to the surface

your nights are remember when we were young

 

my nights are Japanese rope bondage

your nights are watercolors and cherry blossoms

 

I asked you to cover my mouth with your hand I

was feeling adventurous and after all

 

it was my night darling you refused

you couldn’t stand to see me silenced

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Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe is from the Upper Skagit and Nooksack Indian Tribes. Native to the Pacific Northwest she draws inspiration from her coastal heritage as well as her life in the city. She writes with a focus on trauma and resilience, ranging topics from PTSD, sexual violence, the work her great grandmother did for Lushootseed language revitalization, to loud basement punk shows and what it means to grow up mixed heritage. Sasha received a double MFA from The Institute of American Indian Arts with a focus on creative nonfiction and poetry. She teaches creative writing at the Native Pathways Program at Evergreen and has been a mentor for Seattle’s youth poet laureate program.  Her memoir Red Paint has received starred reviews from Kirkus and Shelf Awareness and is available through Counterpoint Press. Her collection of poetry Rose Quartz is available through Milkweed Press. Thundersong, a collection of essays is forthcoming from Counterpoint Press in spring of 2024.

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   Jeffrey Gibson. She Never Dances Alone, 2021. Acrylic on canvas, archival pigment on cotton, archival pigment on rice paper, inset in custom wood frame, glass beads, and artificial sinew;  87 3/8 x 79 5/16 x 2 9/16 in. Gochman Family Collection. Image courtesy of Jeffrey Gibson Studio. Photo: Max Yawney.

Comments

[Grace Cavalieri]

Well that poem says everything that needs to be said- summoning us - with sensuality and danger and hope. It is terrifyingly beautiful.

[Brandon D. Johnson]

I love this poem for its fflow and its fire. I read it several times. It got warmer each time. Thank you

[Julien Strong]

Fantastic poem! What an ending—I fogot to breathe for a moment.

[David Lehman]

very sexy:

an understanding you won’t
colonize my body but you’ll

come when you’re invited
bring gifts to the borders of me

[Robert McDowell]

"My nights are a cat of nine tails"... Indeed. I'm enchanted.

[Howard Bass]

A wonderful choice, Terence. Reminds me of the exceptional Native writers we brought to NMAI, and of the Young Native Poets program we did once.

[Terence Winch]

Thanks for the comment, Howard. Yes, those were unique and important programs.

[Eileen Reich]

I love this poem. It’s beautiful.

[lally]

provocatively engaging and enticing, deeply appreciated

[Phyllis Rosenzweig]

Beautiful, intense, and a little scary.

[Clarinda]

Sexy! But very (and rather distressingly) traditional in terms of roles partners imagine they play.

[David Beaudouin]

This poem's counterbalance of sexuality and politics is wonderful, making me recall the essay of Carol Hanisch, "The Personal is Political." That tension in this poem is palpable and tremendous. Thanks, Sasha and Terence!

[Terence Winch]

David: Thanks for the comment.