Winners of the "Codename: Geronimo" poetry contest!

When Turtles Fly is proud to announce the winners of the first ever "Codename: Geronimo" poetry contest.  Please see the previous blog entry for the contest's inspiration.

I've chosen 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and honorable mention.

Each of these poems approaches the topic from different angles, yet each also participates in one of Native American literature's signature acts: that of rewriting, or correcting, the historical record.  Whether it is Anita Endrezze's conflation of colonization and Middle Eastern war, soldiers with "boots heavy as centuries," or Kim Shuck's ageless "debate over the bones," or Kimberlee Lee's warning to hate-mongers of any era, "We see you in your darkness/it's where you always go," or Tiffany Midge's haunting question, "How many times should they kill Geronimo?" these writers understand and point out the terrible genealogy of racism and oppression.  And, these writers know that to correct and reconstruct history from a Native perspective is to directly engage with lies - those fierce guardians of "history"- that are deeply embedded in the mythology of the United States.  Each of those poets goes singing into that conflict, understanding the necessity of their intervention.

I'm honored to have their words grace this blog, and my life!  Thank you, poets!

And here they are.

FIRST PRIZE

A Rogue Wind Over Fort Sill
Spring Song for Goyathlay 2011

Windows are such lonely things the
Dry of Turkey Creek the humidity of
Osrash the debate over the bones these
Threads these words that stretch that
Call a handful of dirt this invocation that might be a
Cure for unhealing wounds for the lack of a
Scapula an ulna or an ingredient in an amulet for
Hiding in hills unfound the
Invisible blamed or blameless the
Lost in the crevices those
Folded, sequestered words kept
In a box at someone’s throat or carved into a
Gemstone a word learned
Silently this cure this
Contact poison this
New connection

by Kim Shuck

SECOND PRIZE

K.I.A

“We are all the children of one God. The sun, the darkness, the winds are all listening to what we have to say.” Geronimo (Goyathlay, or “one who yawns”)

The sun

is a prairie of light.

The darkness

listens to us

as we wonder

if it is separate

from ourselves.

The prairie moon

is yellow grass

and river stones.

The People sing,

 their voices

 lost in the vastness.

Then comes the soldiers,

with orders that march on

boots heavy as centuries.

The silence of light

clouds of blasted light

as Time passes from enemy

to enemy. Whose hands

are clean from the ashes

of the dead?

The earth turns

red.

Tail winds of bombs,

bullets cracking

the sky

into our bones

your bones,

all the bones of the sky

breaking dawn

into splinters

of death.

by Anita Endrezze

THIRD PRIZE

Name Game

It’s not as if we didn’t know

The politics of Indian hating live

On in your war machine red with blood

Driven by fear hidden in code.

We see you in your darkness.

We know the places you go

Always repeating yourself in patterns

Too familiar, too loud, too slow

Foolish in your pride, you don’t think

We notice; you are wrong

That man was no Geronimo

We see you in your darkness

It’s the place you always go.

              

by  Kimberli Lee

HONORABLE MENTION

Codename Geronimo

In 2011 someone made an order, kill Geronimo;
soldiers dispatched by jet, by car, with orders to kill Geronimo.

The Brits had a new princess and Fergie’s daughters had silly hats
but the Royal wedding was eclipsed by the killing of Geronimo.

I heard about it on the radio; bin Laden’s been ratted out
living in a pleasant Pakistani suburb, KIA Geronimo.

He used his wives as shields; there is nothing about
that fact to cheer yet some did after killing Geronimo.

For tribal nations the namesake’s a hero, little doubt
occupy their minds as to the military’s code KIA Geronimo.

It’s just another cry for war without
restraint. Our hero wasn’t a terrorist, the real Geronimo

fought to protect homelands, way of life, I’d say devout,
feared perhaps but how many times should they kill Geronimo?

by Tiffany Midge