Animals: “Mother’s Milk” by Dr. Deidra Suwanee Dees

Mother’s Milk

sunlit breeze 

meanders through

bathroom window,



nostrils catch

scent of  
of mother’s milk—

five newborns 
nurse

in my laundry basket 

on stray 
rescued 
tabby cat, 



reminding

me I am one of five,

never rescued,
never wanted,
never knowing 

the taste of 

mother’s milk; 


content to find solace 

in someone else’s

About Dr. Deidra Suwanee Dees

Dr. Deidra Suwanee Dees/family descend from Hotvlkvlke (Wind Clan) and follow Muscogee stompdance traditions. Dr. Dees is author of the chapbook, Vision Lines: Native American Decolonizing Literature. A Harvard and Cornell graduate, she works at the Poarch Band of Creek Indians and teaches Native American Studies at the University of South Alabama. Heleswv heres, mvto.