Writing
Ink and Skin and Bone
I am an activist
a student
I am a mother
a daughter and sister
a feminist, and a maker
I am
The revival of lost languages
The language of ink and skin and bone
The language of
California Indigenous women’s tattoos
The ink is reclamation
of our
spaces
Large spaces
Our spaces
Homeland places
On faces
The revival of beautiful and strong
Representations of
Indigenous people
My sisters in California
My sisters and I
who wear a language
Written on the skin
It is a language of women
Of place and
Of status
Of love
Of honor
Of traditions breathing life again
It reveals hidden knowledge
Alive once again
It is of the land
and ancient and wise
It is a message to our children
“Don’t believe the white lies”
The ink is aggressive
Unapologetic
It is educative
Provocative
Proud
It is the hope of future
It is the language of our flesh
It is story telling
Through text
Taken from the walls
Taken from the books
and
Written on the skin
It is the reclaiming of
Our beauty
Our spaces
Sacred places
On faces
Our women’s language
With ink and skin and bone.