Taki saw Salito standing on the rocks that connected the land with the water.
The wind blew off the icy sea and whipped his body until it looked as if he might become a part of the sand, salt and sea that made up the Arctic land.
The three shirts and one coat he owned weren’t enough to protect him from the cold.
The skin of his cheeks and the water in his eyes froze with the sunset.
“He looks so small against the sky and the sea,” she thought.
“He looks so weak against the rocks and the ground.”
Small, weak things struggled to survive around the Chukchi Sea, she knew.
Her heart was big and strong, and that’s what helped her live in this icy place.
In the old language she thought of the words ‘heart’ and ‘strong,’ uumman and sanyiruq.
Taki wrote this poem for Hilcias -
we
stand
closely
side by side
I reach out for you
and take your hand inside of mine
our fingers intertwine and our palms make a small space
this space is warm in the deep snow that covers the ground of Point Hope
is warm against the icy wind that blows off the rocking waters of the Chukchi Sea
“life is in these small spaces between us,” I whisper
we stand quietly hand in hand
with the small space, and
then we smile
holding
small
space
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