My First Elder

My first Elder was a drag queen

Who tells us “If you can't love yourself – how in the hell you gonna love anyone else?”

She was a Kookum to my children,

Reminding us that most of what we do is drag.

Does my brain know

It accepted all the shame?

Now I write my story on my skin.

I will become,

Whatever….

Slave to biology or free?

Who hurts in the morning?

Today – I accept becoming,

Sometimes an exquisite sound

Somedays a triceratops,

And more often now –

A gardener of futures.

Pehiw – Awakening 2022