On exhibit, the leg bones melt
from impressions projected in the stare
of strangers.
In unbearable oblivion,
the dry humdrum and line
from each person carries with it the absence of identity,
to the next step of identifying.
There is a crumble of spirit.
Weak in the fluorescent light,
bone on white paper.
Paper in white gown.
Paper alien, go somewhere else,
not here.
We have a finger problem.
It points with accusation.
Elizabeth A. Woody is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Oregon, of Yakama Nation descent, and is “born for” the Tódích’íinii (Bitter Water clan) of the Navajo Nation. Her paternal grandfather’s clan is Mą‘ii deeshgiizhinii (Coyote Pass – Jemez clan). She received the American Book Award in 1990, and the William Stafford Memorial Award for Poetry and was a finalist for the Oregon Book Awards in 1995. Elizabeth has published three books of poetry. She also writes short fiction, essays, and is a visual artist. She was the eighth Oregon Poet Laureate from 2016 to 2018.
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