by Sherry Marr
I have taken part in many protests in my life: for civil rights, against the Viet Nam war, (Make Love, Not War, Give Peace a Chance), the women’s movement, justice for Aboriginals, the climate crisis. In 1993, I was on the blockades to save the old growth forest in Clayoquot Sound, at that time the greatest act of civil disobedience in Canada.
I have a strong sense of truth and social justice; I have expressed this in my poetry all my life. My spirit rises up against all that is unjust. But I was always hopeful that the transformation of consciousness on the planet would occur before all was lost. So I have been having a hard time since 2016, watching things play out for our neighbours south of the border, watching civil liberties roll back, racism become hostile and overt, civility, dignity, decency being over-powered by hatred and division. Blatant corruption is occurring at top levels, unchallenged; the good guys get fired; the snake-charmers get richer. All the smug grinning smiles of collusion, the dead eyes, are an affront to my sensibilities.
Where to start: too many things to protest; it is a theatre of the absurd. We are so far down the rabbit hole, it makes me think of that old saying: “Been down so long, it looks like Up to me.” In Canada, newscasters have a hard time hiding their astonishment at the words they are reading on the teleprompters. Yikes.
Add the corona virus to this, and one can be forgiven for growing too discouraged for words. Yet somehow we must rally. (And for certain every person qualified to vote needs to exercise that right in November 2020.) Our job as poets is to reflect the world around us, throw light on difficult topics, bear witness, advocate for change, at the very least leave a historical record of the times we are living through, in case humanity somehow survives, and there are people alive in the future to read our words. At least we can say “we tried.” Future humans will see that, when it became a struggle between dark and light, we poets were the canaries in the cages, singing out.
My heart rose up with the water protectors at Standing Rock, whose peaceful and prayerful protest was met with militarized police, pressure hoses, rubber bullets and arrest. trump (I will never use a capital T for him, my own small rejection of his political presence) proposed legislation that would brand these peaceful warriors – and other peaceful protesters – “terrorists”. Yet check this out:
Protestors tried to enter the Michigan House of Representative chamber and were being kept out by the Michigan State Police at the State Capitol in Lansing, on April 30. The group was upset with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s mandatory closure to curtail Covid-19. (Photo: Jeff Kowalky)
It was trump who incited these people to “Liberate your state; fight for your great Second Amendment.” He called these “protesters” of social distancing “good people.”
Join me in a moment of speechlessness.
“Give me liberty or give me death”, the placards say, of the directives to wear masks and practise social distancing to prevent the spread of the virus. This might quite literally come true. “Gun up,” people are saying south of the border. Methinks they have found a strange issue to protest.
I worry about the coming election. Will they “gun up” if they don’t like the outcome? I worry about a lot of things. The New York Times has projected the possibility of Ivanka trump as President in 2025, followed by the abolishment of term limits for President. Hopefully this will not happen; hopefully I won’t live to see a further slide from American democracy to power by the potentates.
Brendan suggested, since we can’t meet in the streets to voice our protests (and it probably would be scary, with all those enraged people running around with guns half-cocked), we can do an online protest. That appeals to me.
There is no shortage of things to protest: the armed militants on the state capital steps; the president himself; government corruption; assault weapons; the suffering and abuse of wild and domestic animals; the destruction of wild habitat; what we eat, how it’s treated and where it comes from. The need for social distancing and testing to save lives, the many lives being lost in all the political uproar, in a situation that should be anything but political. (Leaked statistics from the White House estimated covid deaths could reach 3,000 per day in the U.S. by June 1st. And the administration seems unworried about the loss of life). (Source: Business Insider)
Animal rights. Human rights. Immigration. Warming seas. Plastic. The climate crisis. The urgent need for a switch to clean energy.
Take your pick. Unfurl your banner. Tell us about what keeps you awake at night, what worries you most, what you feel needs to change. What is happening in your part of the world that concerns or appalls you? Give us your outrage or, if you can muster it, give us some hope, and a direction to head in.
Valerie Kaur has said this time can be viewed “not as the darkness of the tomb, but the darkness of the womb”; that we can emerge from this time of transition transformed, and begin to live on Mother Earth as one part of creation, rather than the unthinking, dominant species we have been. We live in hope.
Your challenge: Bring us your protest poem. Let’s join our voices in this forum to speak of all that is wrong or, conversely, all that we can make right.
I look forward to reading your words.
— Sherry
earthweal 
Does my haiku about Mother Earth really belong here? Need your expert advice! 🙂
LikeLike
Why not? This is a rally for everything beloved and bedeviled, in signage tidy and oceanic! – Brendan
LikeLike
Yes, bring us whatever rises in your heart: love for Mother Earth, pain at her distress, hope for her (and our) future. Protest what drives you mad, rant, emote, inspire. We need your words, and to share this mess we find ourselves in.
LikeLike
On the front page of the New York Times on Sunday 100,000 names of those who have died of the virus so far in the U.S. were listed. Each one, someone’s loved one, each one a story of heartbreak.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Sherry for this great prompt. I’m sorry I did not respond to it adequately. I don’t think what I wrote qualifies as a poem. But I didn’t want to miss the chance to acknowledge your work and generosity to host earthwheel today.
LikeLike
Myrna, your poem is WONDERFUL. I love and agree with every word. I commented on your site that I used to resist the word “evil”, until the last few years. Seeing the dead eyes, hearts exhibiting not one shred of humanity, I, too, now believe it exists. Thank you for your presence, your poem and your kind words.
LikeLike
I’d love to walk with a sign saying “Mother is watching you” if I thought it would at least elicit a grin from those who know what I’m talking about. Then there is “God is watching” and even “Santa Claus is watching.” How about “we are watching”?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Often, on the blockades, people would chant “the whole world is watching”….we used to be dealing with one problem and one protest at a time…..I think these days, there are so many things going off the rails, we are having trouble keeping track of it all. I love the whole idea of “Mother is watching you.” Smiles.
LikeLike
I haven’t come up with a new poem yet, but I did put this together, Sherry, and if you feel well enough, you are welcome to pop in and read it!
https://susan60.blogspot.com/2020/05/wednesday-morning-free-writing-with.html
LikeLike
Susan, feel very welcome to link your piece here if you wish. I love what you wrote. You took me back to the 70’s and how many dreams we had, how we thought we’d change the world – before all our heroes were assassinated……….it made me wonder how we wound up where we are now, what a nightmare. I hope we will awaken soon and get back to something approaching civility , justice and respect……………hope I live long enough to see some of this reversed. We were such dreamers! It was such a beautiful time….but even so – Viet Nam……Kent State……….civil rights………..some of my friends came here to Tofino to evade the draft to Viet Nam……….I love your piece.
LikeLike
A lovely prompt and thread and collection of responses. Thank you Sherry for hosting.
LikeLike
Lovely to see you here, Lindi. I am thrilled to see voices from around the globe here this week. Yay! Thank you, everyone, for showing up for our beleagured planet.
LikeLike
Sherry, what a thought-provoking prompt. I even enlisted the aid of my husband to do a spoken word with his powerful voice.
LikeLike
Linda, how wonderful to see you here. Yay! Our Owl Woman!
LikeLike
Some linkers have told me they are experiencing problems commenting on other poets’ links from the earthweal linky…….I note the spam program is akismet which I have had extreme problems with myself. What I do to get around it is when you comment and have to fill in your indentification info, if there is a facebook icon option, click on IT, and it will switch you to your facebook ID and you should be able to comment. That is how I get around it.
LikeLike
O.M.G. Watching the news and Alberta’s energy minister states “This is a GREAT time to build a pipeline – because of covid, people cant protest.” Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Anothe government r representative backed her up by saying he accepts the right of people to protest, but “we are focussed on getting our product to market.” At whatever cost.(Cost of barrel of oil sank to $0 a month or so ago……lucrative product, no?) Yet all of the clean energy alternatives would provide the employment people need AND be good for the planet. This drives me crazy.
LikeLike
Thanks for the thoughtful prompt Laura. (K)
LikeLike
Sherry! sorry, I was also linking this to dVerse.
LikeLike
Lovely to see you!
LikeLike
Thank you, friends, for your wonderful poems, each one expressing so perfectly the many thoughts and emotions with which we are moving through this strange time. I love and appreciate each unique expression.
LikeLike