THE THAW

a poem/prayer for my friends in Minnesota

Photo by Meg Jenson on Unsplash

Jesus of the loaves & the fishes, 
God of the terrified exhausted,
be near to my friends in Minnesota today—

let there always be another bag of beans or rice 
behind the broom in the pantry, jars of salsa too & masa 
& may the windowsill cilantro grow even in this ice storm

more than enough.

let the landlord forgive the rent as they stand firm in their place
against those with rented hearts & rented badges & rented guns 
because grace doesn't take an army, it only takes ONE

more than enough 

let the watchful mother-eyes, patrolling on behalf of their neighbors, 
& ALL OUR CHILDREN, may they rest in their turn with multiplied  
rest & multiplied hours of sleep, the impossible I've seen you do before

more than enough 

let the mutual aid run like a river of peace & justice never dry
let the world have eyes to see & ears to hear & hearts to care
even when we've just eaten horror for breakfast keep us as a help & a witness

more than enough 

let the Leaders who still believe in freedom, use their power
to ACT with WISDOM & JUSTICE (preferably yesterday) 
but if not yesterday, then TODAY we pray. 

and my friends, Jesus. oh my friends—
        let them be salt. 
seasoning
healing
preserving even

melting the ice 

cold hearts of those harming your beloved ones/ burning coals of kindness/ searing their consciences/ until they can't take it anymore/ & they melt in the streets like a midwestern thaw/ drip, drip, dripping away/ all that hate/ running down storm drains/ to the gutter where it belongs/ because this is the way/ not us versus them/ but US together/ in a world on fire/ in a world we love/ in a world where belonging doesn't come from being exclusionary/ but from making the table just a little bit longer/ & they say heaven has borders/ but they've mixed it up with hell/ & brought hell to earth/ when what you said to do was/ let the children come/ & let the kingdom come/ & the kingdom is for THESE/ & someday they'll know it/ I know they will/ but until then God of the loaves & fishes—
        
hear our prayer 
for daily masa 

& today make our fishes
more than enough

to tide us over
until the thaw. 

---

If you haven’t already followed my friend Elizabeth Berget, she and so many others are doing invaluable work in the Minneapolis area in order to care for their communities as they continue to get brutalized by our federal government.

You can follow her on IG for updates, donate to her and her husband on Venmo [@Eric-Berget], right now she’s gathering supplies to help moms and babies, so put BIRTH in the note, or give her a follow to see what the latest needs are.

I have few other words to say today, but I’ll leave you with this wonderful quote from the wonderful artist Britchida :

“there is no easier world, there is no skipping ahead to a different life. we are naturally occurring, we belong here, this is our time. keep going.”