The Daily Boost #503

Got beads?

Photo by Eric Prouzet on Unsplash

BEADWORK
Sherman Alexie

My mother and aunt, both wearing
purple head bandannas, took me along
to the bead shop in Spokane.
The shop was owned by white women
but that didn't matter. Beads are sacred
in every culture. My mother and aunt
were choosing the beads they would use
to build the regalia of a dozen powwow

dancers. I was never a dancer. Not once.
But I was always a dreamer,
so I dipped my little hands
into the loose bead barrel
and pretended that I was sifting through
all the molecules in the universe.

(from Sherman Alexie's Substack, 5/17/23)

(My thanks to Sherman Alexie.)

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