butterfly man tells a story
By Manny Loley
near butterfly mountain
lived a medicine person
from the mountain
i come to know myself
he told me
from the mountain
my name was given to me
butterfly man
is how i am known
some men
laugh at my name
but that doesn’t bother me
my grandmother told me
never laugh at others
because the future is unknown
queer people are sacred
we must always remember
Translated by the author from the Navajo
Notes:
Audio version performed by the author.
Read the Navajo-language version by the author, “hastiin k’aalógii ’ání.”
Source: Poetry (July/August 2022)