Living in the Along
For the better part of a year, I’ve leaned heavily on poetry. To help make sense of this world with all its deep sorrows and merciful joys.
Though I’m reticent to pick a favorite as so many poets have provided balms to my soul, Gwendolyn Brooks stands out. Almost daily, I think of a quote from her that says:
In that quote lies the most accurate description of the ethos, guiding principle, and explanation for why we must resist the idea that anyone is disposable. It fortifies my personal resolve and comforts me to know I live in a world where Gwendolyn Brooks once lived. That I live in a world where so many people also live according to this achingly elegant expression of solidarity.
And yet, after watching day after day, for almost a year, the most graphic and stark imagery the world has ever seen that insists otherwise, that justifies dehumanization and mass murder, I find myself challenged daily, sometimes hourly, confronting the very antithesis of the words I cling to.
So I go to Brooks again as I wrestle with:
How it feels to go about all the deeds of living in the midst of a cruelty that has yet to abate, let alone end
How it feels to attempt work-genocide balance and work-state sponsored lynching balance
And so I return again to poetry, where Brooks answers me in “Speech to the Young.”
Say to them,
say to the down-keepers,
the sun-slappers,
the self-soilers,
the harmony-hushers,
"Even if you are not ready for day it cannot always be night."
You will be right.
For that is the hard home-run.
Live not for battles won.
Live not for the-end-of-the-song.
Live in the along. – Gwendolyn Brooks © 1991
For surely now is night. The battle is not won and seems far from over. To “live in the along” means living while witnessing and resisting sheer horror. And it also means witnessing examples of resolute determination from those not only demanding liberation but also creating art and joy and beauty as a practice and discipline.
I am grateful for Gwendolyn Brooks and Alexis Pauline Gumbs. Amidst many sorrows this month, I have also reveled in the time I spent immersed in the mind-bending, genre-breaking work of Undrowned.
I am grateful and also angry and also weary. I’m living in the along.
This month, Undrowned has helped me along the way. I hope it has helped you, too.
I'm looking forward to Monday's discussion with Alan and Maya on Zoom at 6pm ET. If you haven't registered, please plan to join us!