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THE PITKIN REVIEW:
WINDOW SEAT
SPRING 2023 EDITION
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Gemma Irish
Bodies of Water
|
VOICE 1 |
VOICE 2 |
VOICE 3 |
| Bodies of water | Bodies of water | Bodies of water |
| in and around Minneapolis | ||
| Minnesota | ||
| on Dakota land. | ||
| Lake Nokomis | ||
| named for Hiawatha’s grandmother | ||
| where we spent afternoons at the beach. | ||
|
The sun shifting slowly overhead so that when we finally came out of the water, edges of pink sky were reflected in the lake.
Strawberry ice cream. Sandy sandals. |
||
| Bde Maka Ska | ||
| White Earth Lake in the Dakota language | ||
| Where we skinny dipped as teenagers
late at night the moon and the orange streetlights dim enough to make us feel anonymous bright enough to thrill. |
||
| And in the winter
we walk across it stand in the middle and look at the shore and remember standing on the shore looking into the middle. |
||
| They found a prehistoric fish down there once – | ||
| No, that was the other lake. | ||
| Bde Uma | Bde Uma | |
| Dakota language: Other Lake. | ||
| We fly kites on it in winter, and sail boats on it in summer. | ||
| There used to be glaciers.
Sliding ice tore up the earth then melted and left us ten thousand |
||
| it’s closer to twelve thousand | ||
| lakes. | ||
| And the river. | ||
| Mississippi | Mississippi | Mississippi |
| Ojibwe. Big river. | ||
| The hardest word on spelling tests. | The most fun word on spelling tests. | |
| From what I know of the Ojibwe language | ||
| which is very little | ||
| but not zero | ||
| many things are described in relationship to one another. | ||
| Lake Pokegama | ||
| Ojibwe: The water which juts off from another water. | ||
| where we swam at family camp
taste of marshmallows and orange soda |
||
| Minnehaha | ||
| falling water |
VOICE 3
We haven’t talked about our lake.
VOICE 1
It doesn’t have a beautiful name.
VOICE 2
You mean an Indigenous name.
VOICE 1
It’s man-made.
VOICE 3
But it’s our lake!
VOICE 2
Powderhorn Lake.
VOICE 3
In Powderhorn Park.
VOICE 1
Barely a lake.
VOICE 2
Man-made.
VOICE 3
Home to goslings and ducklings that flop fuzzily into the water, then turn into gawky teenage geese pecking at the grass on the hill.
Home to Wood Ducks and Mallards.
A heron – blue-white and proud, standing tall in the shallows.
And the cormorants, diving deep into the water, coming up impossibly far away, and drying their wings in their signature burlesque stance, wings wide, gazing over their shoulders.
VOICE 1
The occasional bald eagle.
VOICE 2
A young one, harassed by a murder or crows.
VOICE 3
Unbothered.
VOICE 1
A pair of hawks. Swooping right across our path.
VOICE 3
Better keep your tiny dogs on a leash.
VOICE 1
When the city burned, the smoke rolled through the park, over the lake.
VOICE 2
Up the hill towards our house.
VOICE 3
Bathtub full of water in case we had to put out any fires.
VOICE 1
We wanted a water birth for our baby –
VOICE 2
But he came before they could fill the tub.
VOICE 3
He loves being in the water.
VOICE 2
His grandmother’s grandbaby.
VOICE 3
I remember her swimming across Lake Pokegama – the whole lake! – while we followed in a canoe.
VOICE 1
One year, she almost won the race, she and Phil were neck and neck, and she reached over and grabbed his hand and they doggy-paddled the last part together hand in hand. A shared victory.
VOICE 3
You could see the clouds reflected in the lake, except where my mom and Phil broke the surface. Like they were swimming through sky.
| VOICE 1 | VOICE 2 | VOICE 3 |
| Minnesota | Minnesota | Minnesota |
| Dakota language again.
Land where the water is so clear it reflects the sky. |
||
| Our bodies | Our | |
| bodies are sixty percent water | ||
| I feel the sky in my mouth. | ||
| I drink water straight from the tap | ||
| I watch a cloud move | ||
| holding my head under the faucet | ||
| across the surface of my coffee. | ||
| too impatient to wait for my cup to fill. | ||
| I open my mouth
I look up water leaks out of my eyes I feel the sky in my mouth. |
||
| Bodies of water | Bodies of water | Bodies of water |
| moving towards each other | ||
| water always finds | ||
| water. | water. | water.
|