Poetry by Dee Allen.

By Dee Allen.:

 It took a silversmith
 A Tsalagi silversmith
 To give seven clans,
 His tribe, a unique voice.

 In the early 19th Century, the silversmith

The Tsalagi silversmith
 Had found, scattered by the wind,

Snow white leaves
 Not seen on any bushes he knew.

 Curiosity drew the silversmith

The Tsalagi silversmith

To closely examine
 Snow white leaves
 Bearing unusual marks he couldn’t read.

 Inspiration stirred the silversmith

The Tsalagi silversmith
 To avoid using the
 Hammer, anvil, sheetmetal, flame
 In forging new items his tribe needed.

 Imitation drove the silversmith

The Tsalagi silversmith
 To pick up a feather dipped
 In ink and copy 26
 English letters, designed 60 more
 behind them.

 It took a silversmith
 A Tsalagi silversmith

To give seven clans,
 His tribe, a unique voice

Written on
 Crisp, flat
 Snow white leaves

That talked back

To the eyes.

(From the new book Elohi Unitsi: Poems [ 2013–2018 ], Conviction 2 Change Publishing, 2020.)

Every Spring as
 Trees sprout new leaves,

Aboriginal nation Reflects and grieves
 
 Long after Justice

Failed them—one more slight—

They remember a beloved sister’s

Departure from her family’s sight:

 At close range, muzzle flash
 From a policeman’s gun
 Panic from a petite Dineh* woman

Dissipated—her life was done.

 Street-bound transition
 From flesh to spirit
 Hoofbeats pound, a steady gallop

And only she could hear it.

 Sky-blue eyes, grey spotted body,

Stray horse drew near with a neigh.

Instinctively, she knew
 It came to carry her away

 From a White man’s world that shown her

Nothing but disrespect—
 She climbed onto the steed’s bare back,

Wrapped her arms around its massive neck
 

And finally rode off

On a distant course

To her peaceful, eternal repose

On the Spirit Horse.
 
  (For Loreal Tsingine—1989 – 2016.)

  *What the Navajo Indians call themselves.

Dee Allen. is an African-Italian performance poet based in Oakland, California. Active on the creative writing & Spoken Word tips since the early 1990s. Author of 5 books (Boneyard, Unwritten Law, Stormwater and Skeletal Black, all from POOR Press, and his newest from Conviction 2 Change Publishing, Elohi Unitsi) and 24 anthology appearances (including Your Golden Sun Still Shines, Rise, Extreme, The Land Lives Forever and Civil Liberties United, edited by Shizué Seigel) under his figurative belt so far.

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