We cannot possess hope without practicing it. It is the most fundamental craft we demand of ourselves. - Amanda Gorman

There is nothing so agonizing, or so dangerous,
as a memory unexpressed, unexplored, unexplained, &
unexploded. Grief is the grenade that always goes off.

Last year we stepped onto an elevator. We politely asked the white lady behind us If she could please take the next lift To continue social distancing. Her face flared up like a cross in the night. Are you kidding me? she yelled, Like we’d just declared Elevators for us only Or Yous must enter from the back Or No yous or dogs allowed Or We have the right to refuse Humanity to anyone.

To be kept to the edges of existence is the inheritance of the marginalized.