Pleased to share some new words of mine, a poem titled “Hamaatsa,” up live at Feminine Collective, a stellar lit publication featuring writers dealing in “humanity, raw and unfiltered.” Hope you enjoy the read and stay awhile to check the many fine contributors therein.
Founded a decade ago by writer/model Julie Anderson, FC’s mission is “dedicated to empowering, enlightening, and entertaining its audience through the dissemination of distinctive stories, poetry, and prose that delve into the pressing issues confronting humanity in the contemporary world.” This mission is more timely than ever, imo, as we all strive to keep the faith and fight the power, building positive community, through connections and creativity. Grateful to be included, many thanks to Julie for the ongoing support. And, as an fyi, Hamaatsa is a Keresan Pueblo word used in reference to time, a place arriving “now” within an indigenous experience. It is a gathering place or “a place to start over, once again.”
Check it out at: https://www.femininecollective.com/hamaatsa/ and right here:
“Hamaatsa” – Doug Hoekstra
a couple on the run, begun though it had ended,
painting red lines, black streaks, triangles on the wall,
forget the shortest distance, draw a circle with directions
in the dirt, in the sand, in the movement of a hand, tracing
imaginary cities across each other’s skin, spots of love and magic,
when a silence is a silence, and simple thoughts are carried
in the morning, in a pocket, on a walk, up against each other,
like knick-knacks on a shelf, dusted off to consider
we are all connected and can never disappear,
no matter how we’re ghosted, or cast into another plane,
my father was here, my mother was here, all the words
untethered, in the dark, against my heart, listen to this button,
ravens rustle branches, lanterns shine against the desert sky
purple in the gloaming, gentle as the quiet sigh, in time
hamaatsa, hamaatsa, hamaatsa…
Doug Hoekstra 