Sacred Dirt

I don’t go outside very often

anymore. The butterflies don’t land on me

like they used to. My skin doesn’t

warm under the sun–it only burns,

redder than it should.

My home sits on sacred dirt.

I’ve watched my mother sew it into

her quilts for years. I keep

some in a jar on my bookshelf.

The only butterflies I have left are paper.

I think of dying things often. I think

of the earth reaching up and embracing them.

Myths are to me

what the sacred dirt is

to the home

built upon it.

Things die in the stories I love,

and things are reborn.

The earth wraps her oaky arms around

everything, her braids like chains

holding up the sky.

Reid Myers

Biography: My name is Reid, I am an avid photographer, guitarist, and outdoorsman. I like my coffee every morning and my skills are always evolving. I love film photography and digital alike, and believe each is a tool to capture the human nature in us all.

Artist Statement: Flow for lack of a better word is my approach. When a photo can give me the kind of tightness in my chest. The imperfections and innate power come through, so to describe how a piece of art works for an individual is, priceless. My photography is not perfect, it never will be, and I don’t want it to be.

Social Media: @myers1.4 on Instagram

Brynne Boehlecke

Biography: Osiyo nigadv! Hello everyone, I’m Brynne, a second-year OSU student majoring in creative writing with minors in Indigenous studies and German. I’m from Las Vegas and I’m a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, and identities wrapped around place, language, and love are the driving forces in much of my art. When I’m not writing or studying, I enjoy buying more plants than I need and reading a borderline unhealthy amount of books about witches. Wado / Thank you!

Artist Statement: I never saw myself as a poet, but it turns out all I needed was the right inspiration to make poetry that both holds meaning to me and can hold meaning for others. My inspiration often comes from minute details and broad identities, and my poems are attempts to find the places where those things overlap. Whether I’m writing about the effects of colonization on Native languages or the way my mom makes quilts out of old T-shirts, I always try to find unique images that can evoke ubiquitous feelings.

Social Media: @brynne.hannah on Instagram