Queen Ix Yohl Ikʻnal


In recognition of Indigenous People's Day


Heart of the Wind Place




I saw your granddaughter
              
                   in the laundromat. 
                                    

                She is


a grandmother herself with
                
         two long, parallel braids.
                                 

                  She has


the same prominent nose,
                   
             earthy complexion
                              
      
            and smile.


I watched her and him 
                           
     in pleasant exchange 
                                            

         regard-  ing 


 the  shape of her shoe. 

                                 
 How I did not know  
                                       

                 what



was coming of her regal

               
         walk out the door to curb
                               
          
       no quest-  ion  


 of   roots   and    ground.

                   
       Oceans      and     storm     tides 
 
                                          
      eat     cities.



How  the  jungle  ate  your
                
   Pal- enque.    One   thousand  years
  
                                           
     of   cedar,


mahogany  and   sapodilla  trees  
                       
    at  Usu- ma-  cinta  River,
                        
                 
         Chia- pas.



Heart  of  the  Wind   Place: 

                   
        you   ran   with  the   moon
 
                                     
            to  here?!




Come on Do it Uh huh


  Ladies All the ladies Louder now 
 He's grumbling and I grow concerned. 

 Help me out  Come on  All the ladies
Rants to himself about not getting it, again.

LET'S TALK  ABOUT SEX Alright ladies
I consider my defenses, whether my provisions 

All the ladies Louder now Help me out
suffice and that he won't get a hold of a gun

Come on  All the ladies  LET'S TALK 
because he hates women now won't listen  

   ABOUT  SEX  Alright
about mutual respect and love, how to 

Ladies All the ladies Louder now 
tell her she's beautiful. He blames equality 

Help me out  Come on  All the ladies
for his unfortunate predicament. I rely on  

LET'S TALK  ABOUT SEX Alright ladies
luck + street smarts to get across town at night. 

All the ladies Louder now Help me out
I wanted this to be about hot consensual sex

Come on  All the ladies  LET'S TALK 
but it's about a confused man on the bus
  
   ABOUT  SEX  Alright
 and how to get home safe.



*italics are lyrics of Salt-N-Pepa's song Let's Talk About Sex.


I intended to write a sexy poem in dedication to the annual women's tracking gathering/not-a-conference this year. We got loud and kind of raunchy on Friday night at the Bodega Dunes campground...

Credit goes to poet Patricia Spears Jones and her posting at: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2014/09/lets-talk-about-the-midnight-ramble/

Hats off and deep bows to Salt-N-Pepa.