On Day 601 of the daily poems, our poet Colin Pink introduces us to St. Catherine Tekakwitha (1656-1680 ), a Mohawk woman who became the first Native American person canonised as a Catholic saint. The Mohawk peoples were one of the Five Nations, one of many strands that made up the Iroquois Confederacy.
St Catherine Tekakwitha
Catherine Tekakwitha
Iroquois saint
you stand outside
St. Patrick’s cathedral
New York City
your eyes shut
head tilted up
as if listening
for a divine
radio transmission
you ignore the traffic
offer your open palms
to each passer-by
tempt them to touch
the cup of openness
your fingers make.
Lily of the Mohawks
you knew how to
bridge the space
between
each and each
now and eternity
earth and sky
weave us into your light
like a thread of hair
in one of your braids
so that we might rest
gently on your breast
one of many strands
stronger
more beautiful
together.
Colin Pink
from Colin Pink, Acrobats of Sound,
published by Poetry Salzburg 2016