Photo by Laura BaileyBrandon taken on the North Country Trail in Wilderness State Park (Carp Lake MI)
A retrospective of the author’s last six years, retiring from community activism in Detroit and beyond
1. Remembering stomping feet on stages moved the world
Overturned tables, ours
Rhymed with power
I miss those rhythms and how we spit.
Withdrawal from activist lines,
Community cold turkey
My soul’s journey towards individual radiance
Awakening from divorce, a shard alone in scattered world
The weight of everything unsaid
Bright moments that radiate
Silence
Throughout the unknown cosmos
Being claimed by celestial lineage
So much beauty, did i share
You were not there for me
You could not be
Did i explain my self
To you, or leave a
self
Among you, or did i share silence
And leave
Was i people
Pleasing that entire time
Or putting in that work?
The community stopped being
Beloved when i didn’t feel the love
The community never stopped being
It chugged along its rusty, trusted rails
Without me
2. When i was twelve, my kidneys,
Held too much pain and retired
From filtering waste
Held too many silent tears and
Started a work stoppage, wildcat strike,
My first Detroit Black
Activism
When i was twelve, my kidneys,
Holding it all and me vomiting
My special sauce
Putting in that work
In the classroom
At Cedar Point
Them 4.0 report cards
While holding
Younger siblings
All the way
To the emergencies
That room at Children’s Hospital
What i’m saying is
The community never stopped
I learned
It lurched along on rusty, trusted rails
Without me
With me
Putting in that work,
My spirit shaking
Aches for a place
Where i am held
Essential
Even if it’s in just
A busy corner of this shattered house
Hello kidneys,
A fleeting moment with my son,
My kidneys,
A shivering sliver of your heart.
