“Ah, Ah
By Joy Harjo
for Lurline McGregor
Ah, ah cries the crow arching toward the heavy sky over the marina.
Lands on the crown of the palm tree.
Ah, ah slaps the urgent cove of ocean swimming through the slips.
We carry canoes to the edge of the salt.
Ah, ah groans the crew with the weight, the winds cutting skin.
We claim our seats. Pelicans perch in the draft for fish.
Ah, ah beats our lungs and we are racing into the waves.
Though there are worlds below us and above us, we are straight ahead.
Ah, ah tattoos the engines of your plane against the sky—away from these waters.
Each paddle stroke follows the curve from reach to loss.
Ah, ah calls the sun from a fishing boat with a pale, yellow sail. We fly by
on our return, over the net of eternity thrown out for stars.
Ah, ah scrapes the hull of my soul. Ah, ah.”
Turns out, Authenticity ain’t a thing. Be warned, even though The Atlantic can have serious bouts of ‘thinkpiece-itis’ and employs real howlers I am still a sucker for much of their work. The Atlantic was one of my first compulsory internet reads in college, when I was on my quest to understand ‘the current moment’.
Hat Tip to Colleen O’Sully for this podcast I think many of us can all relate to: ‘Selling Out’ w Curtis Sittenfield.