The Writers' Collective

on the eighth day of writemas kate starts to realize that this is a bigger project than she originally thought ….

and shares one of her favourite poems by Ms Elizabeth Denny!!!

(the last of my Aboriginal Writers Collective submissions – unless of course those members former and current who “FORGOT” or “DIDN’T CHECK THEIR EMAIL” suddenly remember to send me something!!!!!)

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Elizabeth Ann Denny is a proud Metis writer from Winnipeg. Her writing which takes many forms, can be found most recently on the APTN/ Buffalo Gals television production Cashing In. her first children’s book, Jenneli’s Dance, was released in 2008. Besides writing, her favourite pasties are reading, movies, long walks, and fighing the aging process.

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Forbidden… apple

once a month my grandmother comes to visit me

she stays for a few days and helps me clean

helps me purify

inside and out

it hurts my body, drains my mind and challenges my heart, this cleansing

wringing the poison out of my body

my grandmother brings me power

even greater than the sweat

some men don’t want me

in their lodge

when she’s around

too much female power

pushes out male domination

before we start

am i on my ‘time’?

can’t say the word

menstruation

but they use it

an excuse to exclude

grandmother came from matriarchal times

she doesn’t understand

the serpent’s interpretation of her ways

the sweat, the smudge

serpent twisting and slimy

menstruation with a capital                          MEN

i’m forced to lie                        defy

the rules secretly                      willingly

but with the expectation of guilt and shame

pass me the forbidden apple

i want a bite

Katherena Vermette