Last winter, a dozen or so people responded to an invitation to offer some thoughts in response to the question; what do we have to say from Apple Farm in the face of fear? That question emerged from the world-wide impact of the shootings in Paris. This years theme/question; what might we have to say from Apple Farm in these times?
Thanks to Amy Carpenter Leugs who offers the poem below which begins the winter blog.
Thanks to Amy Carpenter Leugs who offers the poem below which begins the winter blog.
Pro-test (n)
in favor of testifying
my right hand
on the holy book
of my markered sign
colors
brown
like the eyes of children I teach
green
leaves on trees climbed
by Anishinaabe for centuries
words
spoken in sweat session
with the elder Odawa
all my ancestors
vision
tall thin ancients
dark as a spider’s web
walking from the African continent
into this moment
- Amy Carpenter Leugs
Note: I am developing a new series of poems that explores a language (tongue) of resistance (to stand again). Joan Miller helped me by pointing out the root of the word “protest” (in favor of testifying, or testimony). I decided that when I protest in this xenophobic time, I am testifying to our shared roots, to our African and indigenous ancestors.
I am learning that poets of resistance need to develop a lexicon that is grounded and transforming, because the populist leader over-inflates and over-simplifies their rhetoric.
Poets reclaimed the German language after Hitler by creating poems that were lists … of pancake ingredients, of things they took to the concentration camps. Concrete language helps us find common ground and build again from the bottom up. Exploring etymology helps us reclaim the history of our words and to rethink their meanings. Maybe this is the necessary foundation to exploring symbols and stories as white supremacy comes out of hiding again.
in favor of testifying
my right hand
on the holy book
of my markered sign
colors
brown
like the eyes of children I teach
green
leaves on trees climbed
by Anishinaabe for centuries
words
spoken in sweat session
with the elder Odawa
all my ancestors
vision
tall thin ancients
dark as a spider’s web
walking from the African continent
into this moment
- Amy Carpenter Leugs
Note: I am developing a new series of poems that explores a language (tongue) of resistance (to stand again). Joan Miller helped me by pointing out the root of the word “protest” (in favor of testifying, or testimony). I decided that when I protest in this xenophobic time, I am testifying to our shared roots, to our African and indigenous ancestors.
I am learning that poets of resistance need to develop a lexicon that is grounded and transforming, because the populist leader over-inflates and over-simplifies their rhetoric.
Poets reclaimed the German language after Hitler by creating poems that were lists … of pancake ingredients, of things they took to the concentration camps. Concrete language helps us find common ground and build again from the bottom up. Exploring etymology helps us reclaim the history of our words and to rethink their meanings. Maybe this is the necessary foundation to exploring symbols and stories as white supremacy comes out of hiding again.
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