Poems that Speak Out Against Violence and for Embrace - R. Copans

If the back & arms you carry riddle with black

spots & marks made by birds who don’t want us here—

I will remind you: There are people who did this before us,

brown & black-spotted, yellow, with rattails,

born from what others did not want & loathed & aimed

to never let belong, & so, we are here today—

the field is wide. We make saliva from root & light.

Our spikelets grow, & do you feel the wind?

       - Joe Jiménez, Smutgrass

Orlando. Dhaka. Istanbul. Baghdad. Medina. Nice. The killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, and the murder of police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge. This summer, terrible bigotry and violence have rent our global community. The killings must end, and we in the poetry community must contribute in any way we can. As we search for answers to these horrors and for ways to combat hatred and prejudice, we are reminded of poetry’s capacity to respond to violence, to help us regenerate, like spikelets sprouting in a contested field, claiming our public spaces for everyone.

In solidarity with all those targeted at home and abroad, from the LGBT community in the United States to devastated families of Baghdad, Split This Rock is offering its blog as a Virtual Open Mic. Over the next couple of weeks, from July 14 to 28, we are requesting poems in response to and against violence toward marginalized communities. After the Virtual Open Mic closes, we hope to print out and mail all of the poems to Congress and the National Rifle Association. 

***

How Do You Protect the Person You Love

by R. Copans

I didn't think much of the drunk man

on the corner of North Station

He moves his hand toward his chest

while he speaks

It seems to just be a drunk move

But to my girlfriend holding my hand

he seems like his hand could be up to more

Nothing scares me more than straight, cis, white man

Nothing scares me until 50 queers

are killed

Nothing seems like second thought

That night a man with a crooked tie

and eyes we could analyze

had the girl who tells me I make her feel so safe

letting go of my hand

And all I want to do is protect the person I love

But how do you protect someone when 

your physical oriented instinct of protection

post the risk?

How do you protect the person you love

from a world that

wants to hurt you because of that?

How do you protect the person you love?

How do you protect the person you love?