substitute teaching one day
they, too young to be properly diagnosed
a.d.d, a.d.h.d, FAS,
abused, neglected,
child of an alcoholic
3rd born in a line of 5
whatever
they were out of control
unmedicated
unruly
i walk in to rule
not
in one day can i undo
all that's been done to them
instead
of being the calm in the eye of the storm
i become the wicked witch upon which
the house lands
barely
escaping with my life
as i wave goodbye
have a nice day
wish you little dickens the best of luck
cause you'll need it.
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nila northSun is a poet, photographer, social worker, tribal historian, community activist, eclectic artist, and grant writer. northSun was born in 1951 in Schurz, Nevada, to a Shoshone mother and Chippewa father. Raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, she returned to her reservation in Fallon, Nevada, to raise her family. She attended California State University at both Hayward and Humboldt, majored in psychology.
northSun has published five poetry books and one non-fiction book, including diet pepsi & nacho cheese (1977); coffee, dust devils, and old rodeo bulls (1979) with Robertson; and small bones, little eyes (1981) with Jim Sagel. As Fallon Paiute-Shoshone tribal historian, she published After the Drying Up of the Water (1977). At a gathering of Native American writers at the University of Oklahoma, northSun met writer, poet, and screenwriter, Sherman Alexie, who eventually helped her organize and edit her fourth work of poetry, a snake in her mouth: poems 1974–96 (1997). Alexie characterizes northSun's latest book, love at gunpoint (2007), as "funny and brutal. In short direct lines, she tells the story of a life filled with pain, shame, agony, and glorious little moments of joy. She is one of my favorite poets."
"the little shits in daycare" was published in New Poets of the American West.