Niagara Falls painted by Arthur Parton, ca 1880 Image courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum
Sustaining many, injuring none
your magic fluid owns claim to natural freedom,
natural beauty.
Creator intended you to survive, Onguiaahra,
through millennia / eons with prayers
of thankfulness for all life
every creature, indeed multitudes of two legged
revere your majesty, come to peer,
to heal, to transform, bathe in your favor,
mysterious ion mist, Creator’s gift.
Though greed of others strives to tame you,
by commanding grip to dominate, fill insatiable need
that only desecrates in attempting to subdue
your ebullient continuousness.
Your thunders and whispers persist as
you, Onguiaahra, pursue your original purpose
Though darkness may surround you still
you inspire and feed our souls
Wendy Sturgeon has been writing poetry and creating art as long as she can remember first under the tutelage of her artist, writer, poet mother. Her first poem published as a teenager, followed with many publishing’s throughout adult life. sporadically while enjoying family life and employment. Poetry is an art form she has returned to more avidly since retiring.
She lets her ribbons fall
as the last blankets of light
kisses her goodnight
she dances on into an evening
of unknown
her power unignored
crashes down with fatal release
only to leave in white wisps
her wet spells touching everyone
meant for no one
this is just her, breathing
Man commands her power
and today she is fifty percent
yesterday, less
and only once did she reveal secrets
beneath her skirt
what a surprise
all the bodies sacrificed
sadness quite cleansed in her deluge
she thinks separation is ridiculous
she does not exist to deny rocks and seagulls
and science of surges
birthplace of a Maiden
even the locals don’t know
unless you pay them
very fancy tourism
but not for the kids
this is adult Disneyland
heart-shaped hot tubs
condoms and lots of prostitution
the moans of those just checked out
still cling to the walls of this suite
No mind, I sit and nurse this view
as if I don’t have memories of numerous
cramped car rides stopping just short
at the border before taking our trinkets
and returning home
today, I bought nothing
not a barrel to ride my way into stardom
not a tightrope to prove my courage
just a daughter, so clearly of this place
with wide concealed grin hidden beneath
every step
double-daring pathways to remember me
how can anyone look without poets’ eyes
at this watery spectacle
the dizziness has not yet left me
extra windy
her mist distinguishes voluminous thoughts
her roar, although steady grows to a growl
closer, so I speak softer, if at all
at night, the tourist lights dress her, as a whore
for a few bucks you can even pick the colour
how much to turn it all black
buy back a bit of privacy
if not dignity
the nostalgia is too great
her shine and history too bold
to dim her lights completely
January Rogers is a Mohawk/Tuscarora writer and media producer. She lives on her home territory of Six Nations of the Grand River where she operates Ojistoh Publishing and Productions. January combines her literary talents with her passion for media making to produce audio and video poetry. Her video poem Ego of a Nation won Best Music Video at the American Indian International Film Festival 2020 and her audio work The Battle Within won Best Experimental Audio with imagineNative International Film and Media Festival 2021. She is a literary mentor with Audible, the Indigenous Writers Circle Program since 2022. January wrote a 10-episode comedy series NDNs on the Airwaves (found on the Ojistoh youtube channel) and her play Blood Sport, a comedy about the pretendian crisis in Indian Country has received numerous stage readings and was published by Turtle’s Back Publishing in 2023. January received the Indigenous Niagara Outstanding Achievement Award in 2025 in the Performing Arts category. She was also a nominee for the 2025 Ontario Arts Council Indigenous Arts Award.
