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IV.
No other in the mammalian world has the uvula dangling in the back of the
Mouth with its precious cargo, packed cavity of nerves and muscle and bone
The uvula would be proof enough, yes, that all humans are the same
Placing to bed, under a spell to never wake, atrocities of other
Heart swells with blood and belonging, bones of hands unmarked,
Brains powered by such knowledge, the past
Our forced swallow
V.
On average, a human takes around 20,000 breaths a day
Breathing in the air-memory of the land and history, breath held inside until
Released, and what if each breath carried a piece of self
Entered another and another, for no single breath can find a home
No ownership or allotment, no safe passage as breath would tell the story
Our legacy
Dawn Pichón Barron is a writer and educator. She earned her MFA at Queens University of Charlotte, NC and is currently working on her Ph.D. in Indigenous Development & Advancement. She is the Director of the Native Pathways Program and member of the Faculty at The Evergreen State College. Her work has appeared in Yellow Medicine Review, Pittsburgh Poetry Review, Of A Monstrous Child (Lost Horse Press, 2011), WA 129 (Sage Press, 2017), and her chapbook, ESCAPE GIRL BLUES (Finishing Line Press, 2018). She lives in the Pacific Northwest.
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