To Ancestors
I’ve taken the time to tattoo
A gun that is a pen on my arm
In remembering from where I come from
I find the inner voice again
I summon it from my belly
From my back that aches
With the years of long hours alone
Yes I have been alone, writing
Where have you been?
I travel the circuit and speak my mind
My ears and throat are sore
From the suitcase of free books
I have accumulated without error
I’m doing all that I am supposed to do
This is, the love of my life
Every word, word count, line, line count
Are the symbols I was created to write
I can feel the fieriness of fate
In my throat, hot like a tiger
When I speak, maybe you hear it too
Maybe one of my ancestors
Was a jester at a royal court
And I take after him
Maybe one of my grandmothers had a grandmother
Who was a prophet, and I take after her
Hot blooded I am here
Priestess, shaman, princess, scribe
My hands, they have silver endurance.