Night Syrup
I stir sweet maple into coffee
And I ask myself,
“What is the flavor
of night syrup.”
An ancient iron kettle?
Northern cedar?
A lick of smoke?
or
The wing of a crow?
The brown eye of a moose?
A new path in the woods?
The sound a heartbeat at midnight?
then I understand
The sweet dark liquid
tastes like life.
by Margaret Noodin
Noodin is assistant professor in English and American Indian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is a founder of the group Miiskwaasining and ojibwe.net The poem is from Noodin’s new bilingual poetry collection “Weweni.” This poem was written first in Modern Anishinaabemowin and then translated into English.
Dibiki-Ziigwaagaame
Ziigwaagamenindondaa’aagominaan
makademashkikiwaaboomiinawaa
gagwejimadizod, “Aniin e-naagamin
didkiiziigwaame?”
Gete-biwaabikokaadakikna?
Giizhik ina?
Zagaswansina?
maagizhaa
Omingwiigan aandeg ina?
Moozo ozaawaabi ina?
Oshki miikanensmitiwakiing ina?
Ode noondan abita-dibikong ina?
miisash nisidotamaan
Wiishkobii-makade-aagamide
bimaadiziwin e-naagamin
By Margaret Noodin