the map is alive

Hi everyone,

This week’s newsletter features a poem I wrote last week, called the map is alive, exploring how empire and power disrupt and destroy native communities around the world through borders and division.

how do i explain

that the borders they draw

are not just lines in the sand?

not just wrinkles in the desert?

they are the manifestation of power

telling us how to live

where to feel

and how to stay or go

but my grandmother

does not understand these lines

she unfolds the map

like a tablecloth

saying guests are coming

i tell her

they can no longer come

because they are on the other side

separated by a line

she unfolds the map

and irons it all

flattening the lines in the sand

i tell her

“grandma

that’s not how the empire works…”