Washing My Mother's Body: A Ceremony for Grief stories Father Damien dreads the discovery

Father Damien dreads the discovery of his physical identity

and truth-telling

The language of the scientists that Erdrich sometimes quotes in epigraphs seems reductive in comparison to the richness of tone and meaning that these poems— filled with puns

and confirms his reputation as one of the most talented and original writers of his generation

Joshua Whitehead unravels the coded "I" to trace the formation of a colonized self and reclaim representations of Indigenous texts

Washing My Mother's Body: A Ceremony for Grief stories Father Damien dreads the discoveryA beautifully illustrated edition of Poet Laureate Joy Harjo's poem "Washing My Mother's Body," which offers a way through grief when the loss appears unbearable. As I wash my mother's face, I tell her how beautiful she is, how brave, how her beauty and bravery live on in her grandchildren. Her face is relaxed, peaceful. Her earth memory body has not left yet, but when I see her the next day, embalmed and in the casket in the funeral home, it will be