Scajaquada v4

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Scajaquada 

sku-jæ-kwa-dä a word I’ve heard
since I could ride in the back
looking out the window
more than an expressway
that segregates and divides
more than a Buffalo name
whose pronunciation sets us apart
more than a creek
that drains and dumps
more than a street
that doubles as a headstone

buried for nearly a century
I found you almost alive in Forest Lawn
still flowing over 400 million year old dolomite
still carving Serenity Falls 
undisturbed only here
not channeled
not tunneled

two miles downstream
Philip Kenjockety lived creekside with his family
just southeast of the triangle
of delta, Black Rock, and island
sanctuary they said for birds and spirits 

by his Seneca name
ska-dyoh-gwa-deh
“beyond the multitude”
Commodore Perry renamed the creek
famed panther hunter
the refugeed grandson
of the vanquished Kah-Kwahs
whose father led the conquering Seneca

the site of the family wigwams was later zoned “M-2”
General
Industrial
District
benzene, toluene, xylene, lead, cyanide, and PCB’s
soaked the soil, leached into the creek bed 
& settled in the flesh of wildlife

upstream human waste
is diverted further underground through the Delavan Drain
sourced through glacial deposits
re-energized from a subterranean lake
it’s still not enough

sitting on the bank below the falls, I lift defiled water in my hand
on most days, I’m grateful it doesn’t burn my eyes or lungs
I used to think you were a ditch, a sewer
flood-control for the mall that destroyed your wetlands
I didn’t know you were real
I thought you were runoff for
the inundation of subdivisions

restoration rather than resurrection
seems timid for the task
but what else is there?

pouring from my palm
water to live
water to forgive
water to heal

Scajaquada 


streaming from a poison culvert, it enters Forest Lawn
running through Olmsted’s sculpted ravine
undisturbed only here
not channeled
not tunneled
still flowing over 400 million year old dolomite
where it carved Serenity Falls

below in Moffett’s Grove
the last parcel to receive the dead
two sunbathers in appropriately black bikinis 
recline safely away from the leer of living men
with only male finches and cicadas within earshot

it’s here I discovered it
far from the headwaters
of its mitigated springs
more than a Buffalo word
whose pronunciation sets us apart
more than an expressway
that segregates and divides
more than a creek 
that drains and dumps
and more than a street
that doubles as a headstone
I found a watershed, a habitat, a home

two miles downstream
famed panther hunter
the refugeed grandson 
of the vanquished Kah-Kwahs
whose father led the conquering Seneca
Philip Kenjockety lived creekside with his family
just northeast of the trinity
delta, Black Rock, and island 
sanctuary they said for birds and spirits 

by his Seneca name 
ska-dyoh-gwa-deh
“Beyond the Multitude”
Commodore Perry renamed the creek
more than 76 spelling with 76 stories
sgenjohgwa:dih,** “outside the crowd” I was corrected
with fewer than 50 native speakers still living
a defeated people’s history
Is open to interpretation

the site of the family wigwams was later zoned “M-2” 
General 
Industrial 
District
benzene, toluene, xylene, lead, cyanide, and PCB’s
soaked the soil, leached the creek bed 
& settled in the flesh of wildlife

upstream human waste 
is diverted further underground through the Delavan Drain
sourced through glacial deposits
re-energized from a subterranean lake
it’s still not enough

sitting on the bank below the falls, I lift defiled water in my hand
the ritual of affusion suffices in the absence of living water 
can reclamation lead to resurrection?
on most days, I’m grateful it doesn’t burn my eyes or lungs

I confess 
I thought of it as a ditch, a sewer
flood-control for the mall that destroyed its wetlands
it’s not that I despised it the way the city did
when they buried it in the 1920’s

I just didn’t care
we no longer needed its once famous grasses 
for its fish nets and baskets
Its role in turning back the British
is ancient history to us
and we never sensed departed ancestors 
gathering at its terminus

I have little faith in ritual
but I don’t know what else to do
pouring from my palm
water to live
water to forgive
water to heal

** pronounced: sgān jōh gwaa dēh

[pre verse]
Scajaquada 

streaming from its poison culvert, it enters Forest Lawn
running through Olmsted’s sculpted ravine
undisturbed only here
not channeled
not tunneled
still flowing over 400 million year old dolomite

in Moffett’s Grove
two sunbathers in appropriately black bikinis 
recline safely away from the leer of living men
with only male finches and cicadas within earshot

two miles downstream
Philip Kenjockety lived creekside with his family
just northeast of the trinity
delta, Black Rock, and island, 
sanctuary they said for birds and spirits 

by his Seneca name
Ska-dyoh-gwa-deh
“Beyond the Multitude”
the creek would later be called
famed panther hunter
the refugeed grandson 
of the vanquished Kah-Kwahs
whose father led the conquering Seneca

the site of the family wigwams was later zoned “M-2”
General 
Industrial 
District
benzene, toluene, xylene, lead, cyanide, and PCB’s
soaked the soil, leached the creek bed 
& settled in the flesh of wildlife

upstream human waste 
is diverted further underground through the Delavan Drain
sourced through glacial deposits
re-energized from a subterranean lake
it’s still not enough
sitting on the bank below the falls, I lift defiled water in my hand
the ritual of affusion suffices in the absence of living water 
can reclamation lead to resurrection?
on most days, I’m grateful it doesn’t burn my eyes or lungs

I confess 
I thought of you as a ditch, a sewer, flood-control for the mall
that robbed you of your wetlands
I didn’t despise you, the way city did when they buried you
so they didn’t have to face what they had done

I just didn’t care
we no longer needed your famous grasses for your once famous baskets
your role to defeat the British, no longer mattered
and we never cared that at your mouth gathered
long-forgotten ancestors

pouring from my palm
water to carry away
water to forgive
water to heal