ARTSPEAK! Portraits poem "I Am"

Hello and Happy National Poetry Month! Here it is, day 4 of ARTSPEAK!: Portraits, my National Poetry Month poem-a- day project, during which I am looking, listening with my spirit ear, and asking these subject to share with me their secrets.

But first: be sure to check out the Michelle's line of our 2017 Progressive Poem over at Today's Little Ditty. While you're there, be sure to check out the March padlet of amazing inspiring ode poems! What a gift!

Here are the ARTSPEAK! Portraits poems so far:

3. "What If?" after Portrait of Camille Roulin by Vincent van Gogh

2. "The Lady Confesses" after Portrait of a Lady with Mask and Cherries by Benjamin Wilson

1. "Mona Lisa in Love" after Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci

Today I've decided to have a conversation with "The White Cloud, Head Chief of the Iowas" by George Catlin. In order to give White Cloud an authentic voice, I needed to do some research. Here is a great essay about White Cloud. You'll see I was able to incorporate some of the information found there into my poem.
As always, when writing across cultures, I am aware that I may miss the mark in my efforts at empathy. But I do believe it's important we try. And it's important to remember First Nations people and teach about their near-genocide as a result of U.S. government policy.

Here's what White Cloud told me:

I Am

-after "The White Cloud, Head Chief of the Iowas" by George Catlin

I am White Cloud, Chief of the Iowas.

I smear my face with vermillion

so you will know the strength

and power of my hands.

I clothe myself in gifts from my animal

brothers: eagle feathers, wolf skin, otter fur.

Of all my enemies, the white man

is the one I cannot honor,

the one I will never defeat.

Even a bear will give you the mark of its claws.

But the white man takes

and takes and takes, until all that's left

is a curl of smoke vanishing into air.

Look at me: I am here. I will always be here.

- Irene Latham

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A friend and I were talking the other day about persona poems, and how they often give us insight into the poet. This is true! Even as I am asking these subjects to tell me their secrets, I am also telling you about ME. For instance, in this poem, I hope you can detect in my poem my long-time appreciation for First Nations spirituality and the way their culture celebrates the earth and our connectedness to the natural world and all life, before and after our own.