Neal McLeod: “Songs to kill a Wîhtikow” ᐐᐧᐦᑎᑯᐤ
Posted: July 24, 2012 Filed under: Cree, English, Neal McLeod Comments Off on Neal McLeod: “Songs to kill a Wîhtikow” ᐐᐧᐦᑎᑯᐤ
Neal McLeod
Wîhtikow *
They spoke of the time
beings broke the stillness of water
retreating from the pollution
that rested on the skin of days
kî-mistâpâwêhisocik, they drowned themselves
and the water became still
*
I went to a place to rest
and lay in the remnants of thunder
I collapsed in ripped and dried hollow earth
a fugitive of spent moments
which had outgrown their divinity
*
The old ones spoke of how the beings dug into the earth,
kôtâwîwak
to retreat from the pollution on the skin of the earth
the old ones spoke of wîhtikow
who hunted dreamers, under thick, dark, coarse sun
took their prey in
like the wind of trains
draws us to the tracks
Wîhtikow wandering
wîhtikow whispers
and pulls the light from the sky
only cluttered cover, electric neon
makes my steps heavy
pass abandoned house
windows opened
no longer covered by glass
emptied of people
and stories
burned out black hollow
my body
has also known
the fire of wîhtikow
bingo caller gives false hope
white johns
circle the wagons of families
cops who drive brothers
to cold places
wîhtikow wanders
in the grey, concrete forest
Crow cross
body heavy wooden
black circling round
crow crowned head
claws extended, cutting
arms extended
wrapped into horizon
feet on hands
abrupt blood pecks
expired fright scarecrow
pulled off
hands fling free
legs fall hard
extend relaxed hand
ready legs
onto road
away from crows
remember tracks
upon skin
sing praises
black crow crying
Kôkôcîs **
plaid crumpled and folded
hidden patterns of fabric
clung around his arms
his brown, storied hands
with lines of memory
which marked events
stories, and words
reached for the chewing tobacco
which slid through the
spaces of his mouth
and with the taste of tobacco
through his tongue
which created words
moving through the room
*
I remember the open windows
and brown, wet roads
cars and trucks
would pull up
and people would fill the windows
with colours and movement
*
familiar faces and rhythms
I remember the sound of his voice
of his laugh
the eternal song
up through his mouth
added stories
and layers of memory
to the photographs
bringing old ones alive
*
I remember kôkôcîs
words came from him like water
formed from the shallow fog
of the early spring afternoon
the room held his voice
the voice of others
pushed through
the fold of eternity
were held in
his textured voice
*
kôkôcîs, kâ-kî-itiht,
the once called kôkôcîs,
was my living link
to eternity and relatives
Cree-language words:
* wîhtikow — a being who consumes other beings – greedy, like a vampire
** kôkôcîs — the name of the poet’s great-grandfather
_____
Neal McLeod is Cree (having grown up on the James Smith reserve in Saskatchewan), and Swedish, having had the fortunate opportunity to study abroad at the Swedish Art Academy at Umeå. He has exhibited art work throughout Canada including at the 2005 exhibition au fil de mes jours (in my lifetime) at Le Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec – remounted at the Museum of Civilization in 2007. In addition to being a painter he is also a curator: his latest project was as co-curator of the exhibition James Henderson: The Man who Paints the Old Men which was organized by the Mendel Art Gallery in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Neal’s first book of poetry, entitled Songs to Kill a Wîhtikow, was nominated for several Saskatchewan book awards including book of the year in 2005. It was nominated for book of the year at the Anskohk McNally Aboriginal Literature Awards, and won poetry book of the year by unanimous decision of the jurors. In 2007 Neal published Cree Narrative Memory which was also nominated for book of the year at the Anskohk McNally Aboriginal Literature Awards. In the fall of 2008 he published his second book of poetry entitled Gabriel’s Beach.
Neal is currently editing a volume entitled Indigenous Poetics. In addition he is working on the following books: Dreaming Blue Horses – a novel, a collection of humour short stories entitled Neechi Hustle, 100 Days of Cree, a biography of Noel Starblanket, and a book of poetry called Casting Spells of Neechery. He teaches Indigenous Studies at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario.
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