Adopted kids
Those adopted kids
Or them
That was us
People were gruff
Didn’t realize
Care
We were children
With feelings
For awhile
We were hurt
Toughened up
After the fact
Our parents
Began oddly
Parenting
Drove us
To parks
Gave me a bat
Jeff got a ball
Told to play
Play what?
They always drove away
Left us there
Instead
We smoked
Waited
Wild
Published online March 28, 2017
Keri Cheechoo, a Cree woman from Long Lake #58 First Nation, is currently a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa. Keri possesses an MA, an HBA, and a BEd. Her final MA project, Agency, a collection of provocative poetry, chronicles her life as an Indigenous woman, focusing on intersecting themes of colonization, silence, racism and resilience.
