TEXAS

I’ve written a little about the house fire that happened to me three months ago and that I am still experiencing. As I follow the news coming out of Texas all that I can think about is how long this will be happening to people.

After the snow has melted.

After the pipes are unfrozen.

After the lights come back on

people will have to put their lives back together

they will have to figure out

how to live

in houses that continue to sag

under the weight of the state—the nation’s—neglect and basic disregard

for human life

People who were already living

at the literal and figurative edge

are being pushed off

into the air and

asked to fly

when their wings have been clipped

their feathers plucked and

used to decorate

the state rooms of their capitals which were deserted by

“leaders” who left just before the chaos that they knew was coming.

How? How? How?

How will they survive it?

We will catch them and

make soft landing places

We will wrap them in blankets

knit together by our grandmothers’

prayers

We will listen

to the land’s demands

we will burn

what no longer serves us

we will use the ashes and

make them into offerings

we will build a new

and we will begin doing it now

in every small way

we can

we will

we will

we will will it

Swipe to see lists of mutual aid funds supporting folks in Texas. Other ways to support include: phone banking, amplifying information, making a personal commitment and a plan to organizing in your communities. The future will be what we make it.

ID: a golden Texas shape sits under the words “send money to people in Texas” above Texas the words “ 31 days til 31” below the Texas “support my communities” in the background gold dots dance on a black background