Poetry As Activism- Poetry Month Project and a Poem Draft
Happy Poetry Friday everyone! Today we're hosted by Marcie Flinchum Atkins over on her blog. Thanks Marcie!
This poetry month, I've decided to use my poetry project to create a mini archive. I'll be writing at least 20 poems inspired by photos/images of history and/or science that the current administration is trying to wipe from our records. These may be images still available in national databases, or I may find some that have already been wiped from databases but are preserved in other locations. My goal is to use only images that are freely shareable, so that I can post the images here on my blog instead of just linking to them. In this small way, I hope to contribute to retaining and communicating knowledge that is under threat.
I debated sharing this poem, but given that ICE abductions are in fact increasing at an alarming rate, I think I need to post it. Once again, I'm going to call your attention to Red Cards, which list information about what your rights are if approached by ICE. Please print some for yourself and your friends/family. Want an activism project that the whole family can do? Anyone old enough to use a pair of scissors can help! Find out what languages are common in your area, print and cut out cards in those languages and stick them on bulletin boards in cafes and grocery stores. Put stacks in your local library, and ask businesses if you can put some by the register. Spread this knowledge, so folks can better advocate for themselves and protect their community.
Without further ado... the poem draft. Sources for the quotes have been linked in the text of the poem.
THEY HAVE COME FOR THE IMMIGRANTS
At Columbia,
Gaza Solidarity
Encampment stood strong—
it sparked the college movement
to divest from Israel.
Mahmoud Khalil spoke
for the land he had to flee.
He spoke and was heard,
noticed by people looking
for someone to be the first.
They came in the dark,
plain clothes, no warrant, and they
made him disappear.
“US immigration ripped
my soul from me,” his wife said.
How will we respond,
who still have our freedom?
Surely, we’ll respond.
“This is the first arrest of
many to come.” -Donald Trump
~Sarah Grace Tuttle
A note on process: I wrote this draft for a contest, where we were challenged to write a poem of no more than 20 lines of text using a traditional poetry form. I chose to write in linked tankas-- I felt that the sparseness of the form would allow me to focus on key moments in this all-too-true story, and get right to the heart of the matter.
Whether or not this poem moves anyone else, writing it was important to me. I found that the act of refining the poem forced me to find a way past the overwhelm and brain fog of my intense emotions in order to communicate about the events and issues at hand more effectively. If you're finding yourself overwhelmed by the news, I suggest writing a poem about it. It's a great way to cut away the clutter and connect with the core of an issue. And, once you're connected, you can be a more effective advocate.
I've recently fallen in love with the word "artivism," meaning art that reflects or is itself activism. This sort of poem is just one example of artivism. My poetry project for April is another. What about you? How do you use art to navigate, bear witness to, or resist the current events of our world?