Bone Light

Title Page, Copyright, Acknowledgments, Dedication

3 Bone Light poems Orlando White RED HEN PRESS | Los Angeles, California 4 Bone Light Copyright © 2009 by Orlando White All rights reserved No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner. ISBN: 978-1-59709-135-0 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2008941917 Endpaper images by Donna Charging Layout assistance by Sydney Nichols The California Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts partially support Red Hen Press. Published by Red Hen Press www.redhen.org First Edition 5 ACkNOWLEDgEmENtS grateful acknowledgement is made to the editors of the following publications in which these poems, sometimes in earlier versions, first appeared: Exittheapple: “Bone milk”; In Posse Review: “meditation”; Oregon Literary Review: “Quietus”; Ploughshares:“Sentence”; Red Ink Magazine:“BoneLight”;TheInstituteof AmericanIndianArts Student Anthologies: Bone Light:“On the Zero’s Eye”and“Square Lips”; Neon and Chlorophyll: “Skin of a Letter,”“Light Bulb Eye,”“Dissolve,”“Bleach Ink,”“i Without j,”“From Skin to Bone,” and“to See Letters”; Fish Head Soup:“Imperative” and“Discourse”; & Scrimshaw:“Skeleton,” “Dot Fly,”“Circle Shape,”and“Writ”; To Topos: “Ars Poetica,”“i-j,”and“Ats’íísts’in”; 26 Magazine: “Open Dark,”“Fill in the Blank,”“Images of myself,”“The i is a Cricket,”“Lower Case i and j,” and“Blank Circle”; and Ur Vox: “Blank Skull,”“Human Clock,” and“i Next to j.” Thanks to my mother, mae Phyllis White, for her love and patience; to my brothers and sister: ty, gabrial, and Sandie, who are the best; to my grandpa, Bert Whitehair Youngboy, for his prayers; my family and relatives, who always nourish me; to my friends and teachers: Sherwin Bitsui, Jennifer Foerster, Santee Frazier, melanie Cesspooch, Richard Castaneda, Dg Nanouk Okpik,BrittaAndersson,Sara Ortiz,AllisonAdelle Hedge Coke,Elizabeth Robinson,Evelina Zuni Lucero,Arthur Sze, and Jon Davis, for their undying support and encouragement; to the Institute of American Indian Arts,for providing a space for me to write and express; and finally to Layli Long Soldier and Chance Ohitika Alexie White, who continuously balance my life. 6 This page intentionally left blank. 7 For mae Phyllis White & Bert Whitehair Youngboy 8 This page intentionally left blank. ...