21st-Century Meditation
![Kim Shuck, Warrior Trout (2016), 15/0 glass seed beads on brain-tanned hide, 9 x 2.5 in / Courtesy of the artist and Doug Salin Photography](https://worldliteraturetoday.org/sites/default/files/2017/may/warrior-trout-shuck.jpg)
Memory spirits give me days full of
Words I’ve forgotten or
Never been taught the
Language in my cells that won’t come out
Daughters of memory and
Patricide I
Practice making their shapes with my tongue against teeth a
Story of soundless singing a
Meditation I am
Stone I am
Cracked stone
Editorial note: Warrior Trout has been selected as the winning artwork entry for the twenty-fifth anniversary Returning the Gift conference (October 8–11, 2017), which will coincide with Indigenous Peoples’ Day at the University of Oklahoma.