shugmanitou/a humble prayer to you for strength and light/to illuminate the dark faces of the lost gods among these southern hills
– Andrew Suknaski, “Sandia Man”
They never tell you about what you’re going to lose when you go away, when you get educated, when you go beyond the horizon that’s sheltered your entire life. They talk about what you will gain, what you will learn, how much you will grow. And it’s all true. But they never talk about loss, about what you can never get back once you’ve left it behind.
They never say, “once you leave this place, you will come back and know it better than ever before. But you will never wholly belong to it the way you once did. You will never feel completely at ease here again. You will never quite fit in, you will never be able to unlearn what you’ve learned, you’ll never reclaim the innocence that sheltered and protected you.”
Would I take it back? Never. Of course not. It’s better that I didn’t know what I would lose, for that knowledge would have overwhelmed the bits of courage that propelled me. I had enough inklings and fears as it was.
The more I learn, the less I know. But this I do know for sure: everything costs.
leaving home and shugmanitou/ the cry of the hounds/ drawing nearer
– Suknaski, “Leaving Home”
from the gap 