Dakota Homecoming

We are so honored that
            you are here, they said.
We know that this is
            your homeland, they said.
The admission price
            is five dollars, they said.
Here is your button
            for the event, they said.
It means so much to us that
            you are here, they said.
We want to write
            an apology letter, they said.
Tell us what to say.

--Gwen Nell Westerman, enrolled member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota Oyate and citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, poet and professor, award-winning textile artist, and as of 2021 named the third poet laureate of Minnesota.

(Image: We are Here, textile art by Gwen Nell Westerman from her website)