Morgan Parker's prose poem is a sharp critique of reflexive liberal white responses that mimic meaningful call to action but are at best ineffective and at worst damaging, seeking self-absolution over anything else. The poem moves from the two extremes of response - intellectual and deeply emotional - with no transition in between and no apologies for its erratic form.
Tag: honesty
William Stafford – A Ritual to Read to Each Other
We must endeavor to rise above the patterns set out for us by others, according to Stafford, and not follow in a line like elephants holding each other's tails; it is imperative, he writes, that 'awake people be awake' since 'the darkness around us is deep'.