Why did I sign? To join with my fellow signatories and others in calling for transparency and due process for the benefit of all involved. And there’s the rub: the letter fell seriously short when it came to those last two words, “all involved.”
To anyone who felt angry, afraid or abandoned as a result, I hold out my hand in apology. I hold out my hand in love.
What now? All I can think is that we must move forward as a community, doing what we do best. We must continue to write and to read—letters, statements, articles, yes, but also the deep, (re)generative work. To that end, a little story:
A couple of years ago at an Authors for Indies event in Toronto, I met the poet Ronna Bloom. Part of Ronna’s practice as Poet in Residence at Mount Sinai Hospital includes prescribing poems, and some minutes into our conversation she got out her prescription pad and asked me what I felt I needed. The answer that came to my lips that day was the same one that comes to mind now: faith. Ronna nodded, thought for a moment and dispensed a poem.
I know you’re not supposed to share prescriptions, but you are my people, and we’re in pain.
blessing the boats
by Lucille Clifton
may the tide
that is entering even now
the lip of our understanding
carry you out
beyond the face of fear
may you kiss
the wind then turn from it
certain that it will
love your back may you
open your eyes to water
water waving forever
and may you in your innocence
sail through this to that