Raven Davis
Love (1)
How can I set you free my love?
a kind of free your scalp
feels
when you take out your braids
each thick black strand of
kinked hair
dancing amongst wandering white birches
it seems like it’s taken you
a lifetime
to even begin to question
why you have never been
capable of loving like this before
Love (2)
I want to take out
the largest bank loan I can get
and go back to school
for something my parents forgot to teach me
this word
love
seems like the only thing you know
is how to spell it
and you fail at it
over and over and over again
I’d rather be in debt for the rest of my life
than be alone
my heart
banks
equity
refinancing
after each break-up
broke
and
broken
Love (3)
if we are to blame our
teachers for their poor instruction
when they taught us how to add or subtract
then
who do we blame when no one
has taught us about love?
When our parents have beaten
fear into us
only saying I love you while
the swelling in your face
held day’s-worth of water
offerings
from their
explosive
gentle
loving
fists
Love (4)
I want to love you like something
I need to learn
in a way that I’ve never
the kind of love that would keep
owls up during the day
and bears awake when
the snow has fallen
I want to starve the past
and release it from your body
burn it like
seasoned kindling
burying it deep into the
muddy clay of the earth
I want the headstone to say
this body has been released
plant lilies
where your crown lies
I would bring you sweet offerings
laying them on the earth
so your spirit could feast
with prayers
begging you
for forgiveness.
Resting
you will finally be
at peace
you will finally be
knowing love
you will finally be
Love (5)
I want to love you in the light
the hopeful
promising light
that brings joy
to others
as you
walk hand in hand with her
The intensity of love
only measured in
foot-candles
I want to set new
scientific records
of explanations about
this profound notion
of love
and loss
that scholars will
marvel over
1000 years from now
Love (6)
I want to
love you and
feed you mishkiki
medicine that will
make your heart bleed
red again
bursting like the
sweetness
of pregnant June berries
in the most vulnerable ways
that would make
even the devil cry
Love (7)
I want to love the parts of you
no one has loved before me
the ones your grandmother said
to bleach
I want to love the brownness
of your skin
and greet each new
summer freckle
like an old friend
I want to love you in ways
you’ve never thought possible
Like the feeling of going to your very first funeral
sinking in
and lasting for years
I want it
like death
to be a celebration
Love (8)
I want to love you more than
your mother did
at those moments
when you needed
to hear her reassuring voice
I want to love you more than
your father loves
40 proof
and more than his prized vintage car parts
deeper than the colour
of your mother’s chest
when he showered her with
pounding jealousy
Love (9)
I want to love you like I’ve been
sprung
for years
I swear we were meant to be
and yes
I will wait for you
not because I am a fan of
waiting
but
because I know
at some point
some day
you’ll come to me
lay with me
when you’re ready
I’ll be here
just like I’ve always been
waiting for you
to see the light
I see in you
Love (10)
I want to love you with
no plans or
pretense
no rules
free of harm
free to choose
free to forgive
free to make mistakes
free to cry
free to leave
I want to love you like this
and nothing less
there’s just one thing.
I don’t know how.
Love (11)
dear self
these words I write for you
a testament of my love
tucked in
kept safe
the nesting cedars of my bundle
in sinew cross stitches
adorned in my pouch
in the river like veins
in my pipestone
In the fragile
hairline barbs
of my feathers
In the irregular
beats of my heart
dear self
I remain loyal
Raven Davis is an Indigenous, mixed race, 2-Spirit multidisciplinary artist and activist from the Anishnawbe (Ojibwa) Nation, Treaty 4 in Manitoba. They were born and raised in Toronto and currently work between Halifax and their hometown. A parent of 3 sons, Raven’s work spans from painting, performance, traditional song/dance, design, poetry and short film. Raven blends narratives of colonization, race and gender justice, 2-Spirit identity and the Anishinaabemowin language and culture into traditional and contemporary art forms.
