I disembarked to "Surfin' Safari" in the land of snow.
The Beach Boys blasted through my head as I trudged
Hungry, broke, to the luggage carousel,
To a job I never intended to have, never expected to like.
I unpacked in my home on the soggy tundra
Learned Yup'ik names and got laughed at
When I tried to say last names. "Atakitlig,"
They said. I tried, but my tongue retreated.
English names became Yup'ik -- Jennifer to Pinvu;
Simeon was Tuvv'a. I was Elitnaurista and "gosuk."
The words were shy in my Midwestern mouth.
My confidence rose, and I grinned when I learned "anuk."
The brittle sun started hiding as if he was depressed
By the shabby brown tundra grasses on the cliffs.
The ice shoved in and I ate akutuq, muktuk, walrus, and bear.
"Crazy white people gone native," they laughed.
The rain came in with the herring, the ponds melted
And the mud thickened, sticking my boots to the land.
I'll leave them here, upright in Alaska, and when I return,
I'll slip my elitnaurista boots back on and go native again.
YOU ARE READING
Big Eyes
PoetryPoems from my path across the United States as I attempt to heal and find my family. ***my mother and I have reconciled. We're good, you shouldn't worry.
