translated from the Ojibwe by the author
At the threshold
of melancholy
is a voice barely heard
a light wrapped in fog
and a piece of steel
longing for flint.
Strike it.
Zisikinebidoon
Gashkikanokaaning
apii gashkenindaman
agaawaa bapoweyan
waateg gashkaabateg
manidoo-biiwaabik
misawenimaad biiwaanan.
Zisikinebidoon.
Copyright © 2026 by Margaret Noodin. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on September 25, 2026, by the Academy of American Poets.
