First Steps (June 4, 2016)

My Dearest

Brothers and Sisters;

These bitter-sweet tears

That you see

Flowing down

My face.

Are

In honour

Of your healing

And the ability

To celebrate

Your true self.

For too long

You have suffered

With the stigma

Of being Aboriginal

And LGBT+.

Of having

Your culture

And heritage

Destroyed.

In the racist belief

By doing so

We're advancing

You.

Casting you

Adrift

Without 

A sense of self-worth

Or self-value.

Something

I can relate to

All too well.

As

I struggle

With the same fight.

Please accept

These words

I offer.

As a sign

That true healing

Can begin

For all of us.

Therisa © 2016

Author's note: As Attawapiskat, the northern Ontario community, has been struggling with mass suicide attempts, among its population, I felt, the need to share, this positive healing article, with the world. To read this article, please click on the link:

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/saskatchewan-first-nation-group-to-host-two-spirit-192026190.html