Published September 1st, 2023
by Ivy Mushka
(Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada)
a fat young boy sits by my side
and tells me that I don't look Indigenous
but it is I that was born from my grandfather's lesions;
my spine made of chalk;
my history on the blackboard;
and my belly full from traditions
that he will never know
I carry the tongue that has been pinched
by the dress code that I am failing
too Indigenous to be white
and too white to be Indigenous
Biography
My name is Ivy Mushka.
I am an Indigenous scholar from the Kwakiutl nation.
I study at Simon Fraser University.
This poem is included in Poetry World #7, published in the Wax Poetry and Art Library.
Previously published in First Nations Poetry Magazine:
Symphony of Hope
by Nkoyo O. Nsa
First Nations Poetry Magazine is part of the Wax Poetry and Art Network.
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