Sing into the thunder drum
crow hopping from one foot to
The other, and hops will follow
My chants and dancing as I invoke
Crow’s wings with my arms
Extended in the falling snow,
hovering into the darkness,
my spine vibrating to the sound
of my voice, until leaves become
buried under this frozen terrain,
the few times you were sober making
amends to be better to yourself,
the neglected curse, left in that
two-bedroom white house
in her light oak cradle board,
the child with your Pomo face and her
father’s light skin, until the universe brought
you home to me in ashes to sprinkle
back over dampened earth,
The sun cradling tea
colored plumes.
Delaney R. Whitebird Olmo (she/her/ hers) is a Writer of mixed Indigenous and European ancestry. She currently serves as an Editor for The Normal School and works as an Editorial Assistant for the Phillip Levine Prize. Her work has been featured or will be appearing in News from Native California Magazine, Hive Avenue Literary Journal, Watershed Review, and many others. She was the recipient of a 2021 Fellowship for the Desert Nights, Rising Stars Conference.
