December 12

Genesis

change is not made in closed-door conversations.
or in the stitched sigh before the apology
it does not catch its breath in between meeting minutes
or find itself buttoned in the transcript of a zoom call

change does not blossom in flowery language or
sit at the bottom of an inbox, email will never be
the common thread that connects us. though we may
smile, grin and bear disjointed comfort. we are patchworked
in our understanding of what it means to have a movement
that is alive and growing like our people

change shows up best in the hair that stands
at the nape of our necks. making homes between our
teeth. until silence becomes bitter against our tongues.
it asks us to be better. more than a flattened north star.
more like the universe, with its intricacies & black holes
& the wishes people whisper to us. I’m not God but
i know that shit’s gone takes more than 7 days,
it takes people willing to mold the mud into clay.
it takes people like us, who showed up on this day.
i hate to break it to y’all but the going, in fact, gets tough
& we will lose people along the way

but we will expand & use laughter as balm
say sorry & transform behavior. a salve for the wounds.
hold each other when there is nothing left to say.
say something when this country demands our silence.
uplift our voices and stories as an offering
to our collective vision of what better means
Now, i know I’m no God, but good thing you don’t need
to be one to create. or mold the world we want to see;
One that is alive and growing, like our people.

Prayer

From June Jordan “Poem for South African Women”

“And who will join this standing up
and the ones who stood without sweet company
will sing and sing
back into the mountains and
if necessary
even under the sea

we are the ones we have been waiting for”

Freedom Song

Music: “Oh Freedom, Come By Here” by Melanie DeMore
Offered by: Sharon Fennema