Breathe
My lungs are filling up
ocean air working
to the tenderness of
natural knowledge it seeks
completely inspired
by the music she creates daily
sudden memories hit
like a wave crashing
against the rocks
we call our grandfathers
time made no effort
to be part of the moment
she seized the landscape for
an opportunity to let us know
life is temporary do not waste it
Michelle Sylliboy (Mi’kmaq/L’nu)
Award winning author and Interdisciplinary artist Michelle Sylliboy (Mi’kmaq/L’nu) was born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised on her traditional L’nuk territory in We’koqmaq, Cape Breton. While living on the traditional, unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations, Sylliboy completed a BFA at Emily Carr University of Art + Design, and a Masters in Education from Simon Fraser University. She is currently a PhD candidate in Simon Fraser University’s Philosophy of Education program, where she is working to reclaim her original written komqwej’wikasikl language. Her collection of photography and L’nuk hieroglyphic poetry, Kiskajeyi—I Am Ready, was published by Rebel Mountain Press in 2019.
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