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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.
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.
Nimbawaadaan akiing
I dream a world
atemagag biinaagami
of clean water
gete-mitigoog
ancient trees
gaye gwekaanimad
and changing winds.
Nimbawaadaan akiing
I dream a world
Gizaagi’in apii zaagi’idizoyan
I love you when you love yourself
gaye gaawiin zaagi’idizosiiyan
and when you do not
apii zaagijiba’iweyang
when we escape together
gaye zaagijinizhikawangwaa
and when we chase together
Chigaming gii jiisibidoon mikwambikwadinaa
The great sea was pinched by the glaciers
neyaashiiwan, neyaakobiiwanan, neyaakwaa
land reaching, water pointing, trees leaning
biindig zaaga’iganing, agwajiing akiing
inside the lake, outside the land.
Omaa zhawenjigejig zhaweniminangwa
It is here we are loved