Poems of Resistance, Power & Resilience – Jude Marr

As the incoming administration builds its agenda of attack on marginalized people, on freedom of speech, on the earth itself, poetry will continue to be an essential voice of resistance. Poets will speak out in solidarity, united against hatred, systemic oppression, and violence and for justice, beauty, and community.

In this spirit, Split This Rock is offering its blog as a Virtual Open Mic. For the rest of this frightening month, January of 2017, we invite you to send us poems of resistance, power, and resilience.

We will post every poem we receive unless it is offensive (containing language that is derogatory toward marginalized groups, that belittles, uses hurtful stereotypes, etc.). After the Virtual Open Mic closes, we hope to print out and mail all of the poems to the White House.

For guidelines on how to submit poems for this call, visit the Call for Poems of Resistance, Power & Resilience blog post. 

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Anger Management
by Jude Marr

Breathe, when breathing

is possible: moments when

no great weight crushes

your chest, when no

compressed fist

impacts your throat, draw

deep upon your freeborn

right to air: your

grievance may also

feel articulate

if you count

to ten, or ten

thousand: or occupy

your hands, when

unshackled, with signs. If red

mist obscures

your vision, shake

your head, but be aware: mist

may be spray (blood

shed, when arterial, will

scattershot rage): so, when

your injuries will

not be cauterized, focus

on flow: channel

adrenaline into a vision

of injustice disrobed—a slug

in ragged underwear, a salted

body, breakfast

for crows—and see your

talons close

over craven nakedness:

your feathers, grave-clothes,

have always known

fight, you mighty

breathless birds, bringers

of day-in-night—glow.