Six years old.
Traveling—
Alone—
(a great distance)
From the wide open prairie
To the land of borders
And boarders.
Nothing of Her own.
Nothing of Her native home.
This new language—
An assault to the ears, —
Like marbles in Her mouth.
Her Lakota language
Receding to the back of Her mind,
A faint whisper from
Her tetonwan ancestors.

i wonder
how long
          it took Her dreams
to turn to english

i wonder
how long
          it took Her
to feel the shame
of existing

my aunt told me
She lived Her life
          an enemy
in Her own skin

my mother told me
we still have land
           a piece of Her
home

but all is dust

my Grandmother
She wrote me every week
but She told me
                         nothing.