April 2023

dg nanouk okpik

In times of trouble I go back to the land.

Unlock the snow crystals’ color

A closed socket made of flint

Illuminates Seward Pennsylvania

Beach ridges disappear like walls

Of a melting igloo as embankments

Keep permafrost frozen under

Roadways in the wake of black ashen

Trails. Lights grew dim on a string

Where snow settles. I hold my mirror

Up to look for dust moons which

Grew dim from the blue/purple haze

Touch the fifth dimension, drink the

Soundwaves of throat singing.

Thread the gutted fish. Weave the innards back.

dg nanouk okpik is Inupiaq, Inuit from the north slope in Alaska. Okpik resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Originally published:
December 11, 2023

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