Keeshig (Going Away for Some Time)
no
don’t talk to me now
we know everything we need to know
i take up the first damning steps
somewhere i was young running in the sand
and i knew i would be back always because the waves
but now i could not hear them
slowly falling upward
dad was taking a walk to look for water
mum was throwing the ball
and we leapt and strained
and she didn’t tell us to mind our knees
and when jess dove and got dirty
then mum said a bug flew in her eyes
because she said her eyes have bug magnets
and she got some kleenex
sometimes im sad
but dad gets us up early to run
or shovel
or sometimes he lets us try a sip of his coffee
and then we play tag
and wake up in the sand
and dad calls us wacask
he’s a good dad
i don’t feel sad around him
he says if i wanna learn
the land will always teach me
Sarain Frank Soonias is a Cree/Anishnaabe writer residing in Vancouver, BC. Soonias’ writing is inspired by his evolving relationship with (de)colonization, trauma, mental health / spirituality and healing. Poems from his manuscript, All Wrong Horses on Fire That Go Away in the Rain, have been featured in CAROUSEL and The /tƐmz/ Review and will appear in forthcoming issues of Shrapnel Magazine and Queen’s Quarterly. More: Instagram @saaarain