the neighbourhood 

by SAMANTHA MARTIN-BIRD

each character home 
on this block 
houses a century of stories 

virginia creeper
conceals red brick
grows over every affair

white trim 
contains memories of the men
returning from foreign wars

cast iron gates
pierce the ground
uphold property lines

the earth below
holds something senior  

memories of meetings 
echoes of international conferences
gatherings hosted millennia ago 

aki remembers it all 
women dancing men drumming 
heartbeat reverberating to the present 
and back again

ancestors
moving to the great lakes
settling in the prairies
and back again 

Note: In anishinaabemowin, “aki” is “the land.”