Kiyam: Poems

What do you think of me, Dad,

writing this in Cree?

Could there have been more room

for a Cree conversation,

for a Cree understanding,

for a daughter's understanding

her father's honour

in the space between, taw璽yihk,

your childhood and your passing.

Is it enough that I've

cleared a space on my desk

to light this candle for you?

Would that I could

have made more room.

nipakos礙yimon kahk"-tawinam璽t璽n.

Through bilingual poetry, the poet explores the beauty of the
intersection between n礙hiyaw礙win, the Plains Cree language,
and English, 璽kay璽s"mowin. A treatise to honour her
father's facility in n礙hiyaw礙win and her mother's
beauty and generosity as an inheritor of Cree, Ojibwe, Scottish, and
English, kiy璽m articulates a powerful yearning for family,
history, peace, and love.

Naomi McIlwraith is an educator, poet, and essayist,
with a mixed Cree, Ojibwe, Scottish, and English inheritance. She
currently works at Grant MacEwan University and has held instructional
positions at the University of Alberta and The King's University
College.