Peace in Duress

Mohawk spoken-word artist Janet Marie Rogers’s newest collection pulses with the rhythms of the drum and the beat of the heart. Poems drawing on the language of the earth and inflected with the outspoken vocality of activism address the crises of modern “land wars” – environmental destruction, territorial disputes, and resource depletion. This collection is confessional love, learned survival, ardent resistance, and unique poetry that wants to be spoken (aloud). If poetry is medicine, Peace in Duress is a cabinet full.

ice water now the temperature of tea sustains
until the next rez stop, re stop, re start
life elevated in Utah, gawd hours honoured in Arizona
tumbleweeds and raw earth, looks like open battle wounds
gorges burnt earth sagebrush holy land hot souls long roads ash-fault
bill-borders built on the backs of black hispanics
descent warnings foreshadowing rocks falling
sun blocked bright rays make way for end-of-day rain
don’t drink the poison, don’t you dare sigh with boredom
hot winds die pulling down cloud poetry
faces, places, displaces, wide-open Red
horses of courses
[from “3 Day Road”]