We reject
the evidence—based
on science based on
entitlement—as we are not
the kind of people who spend
their days turning knobs on a
microscope and calling it labor.
Who scribble in notebooks and
want to be applauded. Who bemoan
the insufficiency of their research
assistantships. Their reality isn’t ours
and so their facts are alien and don’t
bother to make introductory overtures.
Is it diversity if we are not included?
Diversity is a kind word for a fundamental
difference of life experience and consequently
a separate set of accepted givens, some apparently
perceived as valueless. Only the most vulnerable
are terrified of disappearing or worse. Being visible
and not mattering at all. We save buttons. Our
grandmothers serve several cups of tea from one bag.
If we didn’t have God we would lash out in hopelessness
and drown the weak. If we want to give a fetus rights,
it’s because we understand helpless. Tell me what you are
capable of when you are afraid. Our plane is going down
and it is your sky. Your feminist sky. Your transgender
sky. Your evidence- based, science-based, irrefutable sky.
We see your sky glittering with stars even when the sun rises.
Michele Battiste is the author of Uprising and Ink for an Odd Cartography, both from Black Lawrence Press.
Inspiration: In a conscious move toward healing, I am attempting to be receptive and open to the feelings and perceptions of people on the other side of the political divide. I’m not always successful.
The CDC Poetry Project 