Atlanta Black

The First Water Is The Body by Natalie Diaz

The Colorado River is the most endangered river in the United States—
also, it is a part of my body.

I carry a river. It is who I am: 'Aha Makav. This is not metaphor.

When a Mojave says, Inyech 'Aha Makavch ithuum, we are saying our name.
We are telling a story of our existence. The river runs through the middle
of my body.

So far, I have said the word river in every stanza. I don't want to waste water.
I must preserve the river in my body.

In future stanzas, I will try to be more conservative.

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The Spanish called us, Mojave. Colorado, the name they gave our river be-
cause it was silt-red-thick.

Natives have been called red forever. I have never met a red Native, not
even on my reservation, not even at the National Museum of the American
Indian, not even at the largest powwow in Parker, Arizona.

I live in the desert along a dammed blue river. The only red people I've seen
are white tourists sunburned after staying out on the water too long.

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From Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz - Page 46 to 52