as every thing begins with the heart beat of horsesa tribe the thudded color of all creation my people gather brindle as if the nightwere drizzled long across their backs she of sickle sword of tendon & tusk hewho wields the oxgoad fresh jawbone from a filly in heat theywho buck the binary tekeni Jonijüra two-Spirited a young soul miracles how many?ghosts can fit inside my people gather brindle as if the night were not yet gelded my peoplegather as if the night were a suckling for the saber-toothed drum the whistle of pipescrescentic & long hatchet my people gather as if the night were only a splintered thingbent about the glory of our now dawning home.
American Multitude
from the languages of my Haudenosaunee: Onondaga Nation
Feature Date
- April 16, 2021
Series
Selected By
Share This Poem
Print This Poem
From Dēmos: An American Multitude by Benjamín Naka-Hasebe Kingsley (Minneapolis: Milkweed Editionsl, 2021).
Copyright © 2021 by Benjamín Naka-Hasebe Kingsley.
Reprinted with permission from Milkweed Editions. https://milkweed.org/
An Electric Literature “Most Anticipated Poetry Book of 2021”
"Benjamín Naka-Hasebe Kingsley's book Dēmos is a powerhouse collection of poems by a powerhouse poet. Dēmos showcases the range of the poet--one who can write lullaby lyrics and in the very next poem mold words out of fire. The energy in these poems is electric as Naka-Hasebe Kingsley explores and condemns the many injustices towards Native Americans and other marginalized communities throughout our short history. Naka-Hasebe Kingsley's poems are unflinching, unrelenting, disarming, and brilliant in their range, form, and language. This is a necessary book of ferocity and strength during a challenging time."
—Victoria Chang
"How do you secure a sense of self and home when those things are bloodied? In poems of visionary protest and tender restoration, Benjamín Naka-Hasebe Kingsley's Dēmos proposes answers to that distinctly American question. In Dēmos, place and body are like palimpsests inscribed over and over again by the violence of history and the violence of contemporary racial brutality. As one poem laments, 'I was born what I am in ash.' And yet, out of a scorched and brindled self, Naka-Hasebe Kingsley presents a lyric voice that is as powerful as any we now have in our poetry."
—Rick Barot
Poetry Daily Depends on You
With your support, we make reading the best contemporary poetry a treasured daily experience. Consider a contribution today.
