say no

from Interventions for Women (Omnidawn, 2021)

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Minneapolis, Minnesota, and San Francisco, California, 2020.

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I started writing this poem during the COVID-19 pandemic, several months after the May 25, 2020 murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by the white police officer Derek Chauvin along with the Minneapolis Police Department; after the dismantling of the summer sanctuary camp at Powderhorn Park by the City of Minneapolis; and during the catastrophic late-summer and early-fall wildfires in California, Oregon, and Washington.

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the streets are young and vital

as ever  

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we owe a debt

the night

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wet in the sick

dusk   every history

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grips a crowd

conscious or not

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in its fist

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conscious or not

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of the known world

simply gone

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(go into the poem

the crowd  

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the riot   knowing

what you are

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your daily   deadly  

potential

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comrade

conspirator

sibling

lover

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whatever you are

you’re no less lethal

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liberalism’s

machinery

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a sudden   splitting

force

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chemical agent’s

a neighbor

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naked in its

collusion course  

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any neighbor

a cop

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any discourse  

a modality of the police

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(what would it take to

say no to

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withholding’s

economy

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there was the adrenaline

of the refuge

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in the heat

in the park

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donation needs

included

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………………

oral pain relief

cigarettes

28 & 29-gauge syringes

sharps containers

contact solution

emergency blankets

sleeping mats

towels

sleeping bags

sweatpants

………………

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despite predictable

evictions

praxes of

provision

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………………

new xl tshirts  

duct tape

lanterns

pillows & cases

battery-powered fans

compression bandages

phone chargers

hand sanitizer

pop

………………

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what we need is

something beyond

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prescribed models

of what they ‍

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‍recognize as care

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contagion time’s

a time for choosing

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clarifying acts of love

and refusing ‍‍

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.

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vermilion august

pummels thinner

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distant branches

vessels leak  

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a white opacity  

clots land in a lung

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below sticky

water molecules

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move with capillary

tubes   drag hundreds

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of gallons up each

coastal redwood  

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root systems

extend a hundred

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feet   entwine with

roots of others

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even a downed tree

can survive

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into our lungs

ash of accumulated

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fuel loads   forest

homes

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where we’d loved

each other’s body

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generously

under the canopy

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on the spicy floor

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after the lightning

surfaces of home

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bathed in gold

the sky splashed

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with corals

tens of thousands

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ordered to go

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before the month

mark

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light went out

of the sky

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noon was a

shallow dish

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of ash

translucent

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orange

glass turned

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upside down

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you cannot think your way

out of the problem

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you’ve got to use fire

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.

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on the porch

in the heat

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at a distance of

six feet

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i said   i’m

in your hands

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she said   it’s sweet  

isn’t it

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my bark thickens

with every year now

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i keep your words

in my ear now

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all i want is to touch you

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tell me again what you did

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notes

Sources quoted, referenced, or adapted, in order of appearance:

T.J. Tallie. “Asymptomatic Lethality: Cooper, COVID-19, and the Potential for Black Death.” Nursing Clio, June 8, 2020.

Idris Robinson. “How It Might Should Be Done.” Lecture delivered July 20, 2020.

Statement by Minneapolis Sanctuary Camp activist and resident. The Minneapolis Sanctuary Movement began at a Sheraton in South Minneapolis during the uprisings following George Floyd’s murder. For nearly two weeks, unsheltered people had access to safe, free housing at the hotel. When residents were suddenly evicted, some decided to set up a camp at Powderhorn Park. Community members supported the camp by organizing supply donations, meals, first aid, and harm-reduction support. In June, the Minneapolis park board named parks sanctuaries for unhoused people, a win for the Sanctuary Movement. But then in July, under pressure from local homeowners, the park board and the Minneapolis Police Department began evicting people. By the middle of August, the city had evicted all remaining residents of Powderhorn Park.

Elizabeth Shogren. “A Century of Fire Suppression Is Why California Is in Flames.” Mother Jones, December 12, 2017.

Reprinted with permission from Omnidawn Publishing.