The Poetry Friday Roundup is Here!

Happy Poetry Friday everyone! (If you aren't familiar with Poetry Friday, here's more information.) I'm so thrilled to host the round up today. Picture me waving in excitement at all you wonderful poetry people. It's time to combat darkness by reveling in community, and isn't that wonderful?

It's been a whirlwind few weeks, with travel and family and chaos of all sorts. I've missed the past two weeks of Poetry Friday, and I'm looking forward to going back and catching up on all of your fantastic words. And, I'd like to catch you up on what I've been writing as well. As some of you know, my Poetry Month project was to write 20 poems inspired by things the Trump administration is trying to undermine, endanger, or entirely erase. And, I finished it! Here is the collection in full, compiled into a PDF. (I hope to have a more polished epub version available soon.) I present to you: What May Not Be Erased: A Chapbook of Protest Poetry

What May Not Be Erased Chapbook.pdf

Download PDF • 21.82MB

Each poem in the chapbook is paired with/inspired by an image from a federal website or archive. Images are all in the public domain.

Please know that this little chapbook of activist poetry is free to download and distribute, and you are welcome to share anything within it freely. There is a broad range of topics-- from constitutional rights, to endangered species, to health research... so many things to care about saving. I'm hoping that this collection will help cut through the noise and provide a framework for discussions about what is happening in the United States right now.

There are many teachers in this group, so it feels appropriate to share the poem from this collection that was created in response to the attacks on the Department of Education, and special education in particular.

credit: National Archives (81235403)

And What Are Our Values, If Not This?

My curious, joyous,

beloved Great Aunt Phyllis—

she loved movies

and had favorite poems

and moved in the world

with grace and a grin.

When the town said

she was too disabled to attend school,

Great-Grammy stomped her foot

and up and moved to a place

where the whole family

was welcome to learn.

Because that is what we do, isn’t it?

We insist that

our children

are worthy

of the world,

and we give it to them.

That is what we do.

Isn’t it?

~Sarah Grace Tuttle

Please remember-- there are always steps we can take to fight back. If you struggle with finding a place to begin fighting, the last page in the chapbook is a list of ideas for resistance. However you choose to respond to these times, remember that your mental health and safety are important.

What are you writing? How are you protesting? Where are you finding your grounding and joy in these tumultuous times? I look forward to finding out. Post your Poetry Friday post in the link party below. (If you're having trouble posting your link, as I sometimes do, please post it in the comments and I'll add it to the link party as soon as I can.) It's Poetry Time!