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Love Medicine and One Song
Love Medicine melds intensely erotic imagery with elements of the Canadian bush and the rhythm of Cree words and phrases Scofield's poems come from an honest and candid place.
112 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 11, 2025
I read this like a decade ago for the first time but never rated it. Anyway, in my opinion this is the best of Scofield’s poetry books. I’m always a little iffy on his takes on Native intracommunity stuff but his Cree-Métis love poems are 😮💨👌
June 30, 2019
Sâkipakawi-pîsim
Night by day, day by night
all things awaken
on the white stars of midnight.
Amid the deepest green,
the quaking leaves, spruce boughs
green willow and damp moss
we make our altar
and give our naked selves.
Moon, moon
Nôhkom
in my hands I see his face,
carved from pipestone,
fireweed in his eyes,
his mouth canyon flowers,
pink petals opening and falling
like drops of unsung rain
over my flesh, and moon
moon in my hands
he is hard earth, a high cliff wall
I climb and descend
into secret kivas
leaving corndust and prayers,
burn marks etched by my fingers.
iya, iya
his buds sing to my lips,
Nôhkom
his buds are singing, calling
the horses home.
Night by day, day by night
all things awaken
on the white stars of midnight.
Amid the deepest green,
the quaking leaves, spruce boughs
green willow and damp moss
we make our altar
and give our naked selves.
Moon, moon
Nôhkom
in my hands I see his face,
carved from pipestone,
fireweed in his eyes,
his mouth canyon flowers,
pink petals opening and falling
like drops of unsung rain
over my flesh, and moon
moon in my hands
he is hard earth, a high cliff wall
I climb and descend
into secret kivas
leaving corndust and prayers,
burn marks etched by my fingers.
iya, iya
his buds sing to my lips,
Nôhkom
his buds are singing, calling
the horses home.
November 30, 2016
A very sensual and passionate collection. I find myself wanting the raw edges of the first Scofield's first collection. I was slightly bothered by the back and forth of translation but appreciate that that is part of the point although this work is working less hard in terms of language.
January 30, 2020
Really debated between 3-4 stars, because on one hand, reading the word "scrotum" in a poem is not very sexy, but on the other hand, the natural imagery and prose was gorgeous. It made me feel something, so 4 stars.
February 13, 2025
Wow all of these poems have nestled deeply into my heart. What an honour and a pleasure to read them :)
September 20, 2014
As a reader who is familiar with Scofield’s more recent collection of poetry Kipocihkan, which explores themes of oppression and identity with a gritty and raw voice, I was pleasantly surprised to read a navigation of love through the lens of his Cree heritage.
Love poems seem to be rare in contemporary poetry, though that could be because it’s so difficult to write one without the risk of being too sentimental or abstract. Scofield challenges this risk and succeeds on multiple levels due to his extensive knowledge of Cree and Métis tradition. The poems flesh out First Nation’s philosophies of love and eroticism, something that has existed for generations but has been stifled due to colonization and, to be blunt, white supremacy. Because of this oppression, Scofield presents his readers with a different view on love that many may find themselves unfamiliar with. The narrative of the poem releases itself from traditional monogamous relationships and presents us with a type of love and sexuality that is fluid and transformative. There’s a love triangle of sorts, but never a sense of jealousy or attempt from one person to monopolize another. Scofield moves between lovers, but no gender or sexual orientation is ever specified. This type of love is beyond traditional labels and restraints, and no specificity is supplied or needed.
The sensuality and eroticism is clearly present throughout the collection, but Scofield skillfully restrains emotion through metaphor. He intertwines images of the natural world with the human body with sharp precision and imagery. This can be seen clearly in the poem “He is.” Scofield’s lovers become part of nature, but their actions carefully allude to the sensual acts they are partaking in. With these metaphors and images, the poems are able to explore the theme of transformation with ease and how it is infinitely connected with love and sexuality.
It seems that in each of Scofield’s collections he explores and further complicates his own identity, refusing to give in to the restraints of contemporary western society. With Love Medicine and One Song, he throws away complicated and polarizing labels for the more honest and alleviating way to talk about love and sexuality. Like his later collections, in a way this book is an effort to decolonize Canada.
Love poems seem to be rare in contemporary poetry, though that could be because it’s so difficult to write one without the risk of being too sentimental or abstract. Scofield challenges this risk and succeeds on multiple levels due to his extensive knowledge of Cree and Métis tradition. The poems flesh out First Nation’s philosophies of love and eroticism, something that has existed for generations but has been stifled due to colonization and, to be blunt, white supremacy. Because of this oppression, Scofield presents his readers with a different view on love that many may find themselves unfamiliar with. The narrative of the poem releases itself from traditional monogamous relationships and presents us with a type of love and sexuality that is fluid and transformative. There’s a love triangle of sorts, but never a sense of jealousy or attempt from one person to monopolize another. Scofield moves between lovers, but no gender or sexual orientation is ever specified. This type of love is beyond traditional labels and restraints, and no specificity is supplied or needed.
The sensuality and eroticism is clearly present throughout the collection, but Scofield skillfully restrains emotion through metaphor. He intertwines images of the natural world with the human body with sharp precision and imagery. This can be seen clearly in the poem “He is.” Scofield’s lovers become part of nature, but their actions carefully allude to the sensual acts they are partaking in. With these metaphors and images, the poems are able to explore the theme of transformation with ease and how it is infinitely connected with love and sexuality.
It seems that in each of Scofield’s collections he explores and further complicates his own identity, refusing to give in to the restraints of contemporary western society. With Love Medicine and One Song, he throws away complicated and polarizing labels for the more honest and alleviating way to talk about love and sexuality. Like his later collections, in a way this book is an effort to decolonize Canada.
October 13, 2016
The poems in this book are strongly supportive of polyamory and explore group sex acts in lurid detail. The book is intensely erotic and filled with disturbing imagery. There are many things that are worthy of celebration in Cree culture, but these things either do not appear in this book or are obscured beyond consideration.
September 11, 2011
Strange poetry, but interesting nonetheless. Another book that I read for Canadian poetry with Jamie Dopp.
May 19, 2016
'His Drum, His Hands', 'His Flute, My Ears', 'I've Looked For You' & 'October: The Migrating Moon' are my favourites.
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May 16, 2017DNF
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews