Vivian Faith Prescott
Vivian Faith Prescott was born and raised on the small island of Wrangell, Alaska, Kaachxana.áak’w, in Southeast Alaska, on the land of the Shtax’heen Kwáan. She lives and writes as a climate witness in Lingit Aaní at her family’s fishcamp. She is a member of the Pacific Sámi Searvi and a founding member of the first LGBTQIA group on the island. She’s the author of several poetry collections and works of non-fiction and fiction. Along with her daughter, Vivian Mork Yéilk’, she co-hosts the award-winning Planet Alaska Facebook page and the Planet Alaska column appearing in the Juneau Empire. and others.
How to Pulse with the World like it's the Last Day
How to Pulse with the World like it’s the Last Day
Sometimes I keep time with the ocean.
But there’s a rotating current of a warm algae bloom
and Moon is rolling over her mountain silhouettes again—
a song can sound like this. All movement. All breath.
Lately, the harbor seals keep watch, checking in
on me daily, pop up from the ocean’s surface
to remind me of older times, how my ancestors
could chant with a twist and coil of squall.
This ocean rising, this earth unraveling
is my rhythm now. How can I exist as a part of this?
When in doubt—yoik. Sing up everything, they said.
When in doubt—visit the whale skull in your soggy winter garden.
When in doubt—pinch a handful of newly bloomed popweed from the beach.
When in doubt—get sandy, get wet, get muddy.
Leave the leaves in your hair. Don’t brush off the sea.
My ancestors had a chant for everything—
Hum the sedge on the tundra. Catch the sharp edge
of a snowflake’s melody on my tongue.
Sing up the ache growing in my winterhead, that sting
that makes me want to canoe to the edge of the world.
sing it from the throat of wind—
become the lichen swaying in the trees.
*Yoik is a traditional Sámi chant
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
© 2024 Iron Oak Editions
Stay Connected to Our Literary Community. Subscribe to Our Newsletter
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Image by Robert Boston from Unsplash
