"WHEREAS my eyes land on the shoreline of, quote,
'the arrival of Europeans in North America opened a new
chapter in the history of Native Peoples.'" And that's a quote
from the apology.
"Because in others, I hate the act
of laughing when hurt, injured, or in cases of danger.
That bitter hiding.
My daughter picks up new habits from friends.
She'd been running, tripped, slid on knees and palms
onto asphalt. They carried her into the kitchen,
she just fell, she's bleeding!
Deep red streams down her arms and legs, trails on white tile.
I looked at her face.
A smile quivered her.
A laugh, a nervous.
Doing as her friends do, she braved new behavior,
feigned a grin.
I couldn't name it, but I could spot it.
Stop, my girl.
If you're hurting, cry.
Like that.
She let it out, a flood from living room to bathroom.
Then, a soft water pour, I washed carefully,
light touch clean cotton to bandage.
I faced her, I reminded.
In our home, in our family, we are ourselves, real feelings.
Be true.
Yet I'm serious when I say I laugh reading the phrase,
'opened a new chapter.'
I can't help my body.
I shake.
The realization that it took this phrase to show.
My daughter's quiver isn't new, but a deep practice, very old.
She's watching me."