Ribbon Skirt

I wear you to pray

For humility

For Power

In the sway of my skirt

I can feel my ancestors tug

Gentle resurgence of love

Carrying millennia of tradition in each step

keenly aware of the way

this imperial cloth brushes my thighs

Yet balanced with the vibrancy of my ribbons

cut, ironed, and sewn just right to breathe

Indigenous knowledge into my existence

so when the other looks at me

They look confused

But still I stand

Humble in prayer

in Power

in Resistance

Building waves of survivance

With my sway

So that my babies unborn are awakened in a world that claims

Their spiritual existence

And on the days when I am tired and weak

My sway

soothes my weary soul

And reminds me that

I am descended from warriors

I am a carrier of tradition

And am their living breath eternal

with each sway of my step

I am Love.

This poem was published in Red Rising Magazine Issue 5: The Love Issue.

Tasha Henry developed a lesson plan using the Ribbon Skirt poem as a teaching resource and included it in the “Speaking our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation” Teachers’ Resource Guide.