Notes on the Assemblage
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"Poetry is a call to action," says poet laureate Juan Felipe Herrera, "and it also is action." Ariel Zambelich/NPR hide caption
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Note: Book excerpts are provided by the publisher and may contain language some find offensive.
Excerpt: Notes On The Assemblage
Poem by Poem
-- in memory of Cynthia Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lance, Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor, Rev. Clementa Pinckney, Tywanza Sanders, Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr., Rev. Sharonda Singleton, Myra Thompson Shot and killed while at church. Charleston, SC (6-18-2015), RIP
poem by poem we can end the violence
every day after
every other day
9 killed in Charleston, South Carolina
they are not 9 they
are each one
alive
we do not know
you have a poem to offer
it is made of action — you must
search for it run
outside and give your life to it
when you find it walk it
back — blow upon it
carry it taller than the city where you live
when the blood come down
do not ask if
it is your blood it is made of
9 drops
honor them
wash them stop them
from falling
Excerpt from Notes on the Assemblage, copyright 2015 by Juan Felipe Herrera. Reprinted by permission of City Lights Books.