The Eskimos

the Eskimos
make 60 names for snow.
the Balinese
have words
for fifteen separate
degrees of trance.
i have spent my life
searching for the words, the names
to tell you who i am.
i am the eleventh trance
which comes within
the 27th kind of snow
i am the note between the ivories
if you play them both together
thats not it.
i am the color between navy blue and black
if you mix them both together
that is not it
i am the smell you have no words for
you say you like it
you say you don't like it
i ask you: do you know its name?
i believe that every lesbian Indian Jew
is exactly like me
and i believe in dreams of snow
in the nights of Bali.

~Barbara Ruth
from Past, Present & Future Passions
also in Making Face, Making Soul:Creative and Critical Perspectives by Feminists of Color edited by Gloria Anzaldua