For Colten

Be wary, young ones
as you tiptoe with your heels to the moon
on lands that your ancestors generously groomed and gifted
to you long before you arrived.

Travel swiftly through territories
sprinkled with gravel roads and stray dogs,
Because if you pause for a moment only
You may be met with shaky hands and Mayflower weapons.

Among us walk foaming-at-the-mouth
descendants who dig up and rip this land to shreds
and will attempt to do so against
your beautiful brown bodies with your shoulders to the sun, 
so be wary.

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photo credit: Sarah Molder

Nickita Longman is from the George Gordon First Nation on Treaty 4 but has spent most of her life in Regina. Nickita graduated from the First Nations University of Canada with a BA in English in 2013. She is the Indigenous Program Coordinator for the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild, a freelance writer, and a Briarpatch board member.