Eskimo whizzamagijig
-label circa 1940 for an ivory spear tip
in the MacMillan Collection, Provincetown

Optimism, in a strange,
American way, this zippy
caption for what was foreign
beyond language.

Thingamabob. Doohickey
distant as the need
for a haasux
(spear thrower in Aleut)
or a unaaq (Inupiaq pole
to check ice thickness).

This tool (perhaps a sakku)
clever and useless to the secretary
(was it Miriam?) who typed
the label that has yellowed.

Widget. Whatzit...

but some words drift.

Take vaxa gididzagh, Athabaskan for
that with which things are spread and so now butter knife.
Or lastax--fermented fur seal flipper--
now a three-petaled gizmo
that spins beneath a boat.

And consider the kayak,
translated through fibreglass
and rotomould,
neoprene and rubber.
Bright alchemy
that's made it whizzamajig
to it's own source.

-Elizabeth Bradfield

**Poem as appeared in March/April "Orion"
Photos by the blogger.**