A Poem In Three Parts, Part 3: Meet Me There
The Othering & Belonging Institute commissioned poet Michelle Lee aka "Mush" to write and perform a poem in three parts on bridging and belonging for the 2021 Othering & Belonging Conference. We will be premiering this poem and accompanying visuals—featuring an array of dancers, aerialists, and performers of all kinds—in three digital shorts directed by filmmaker Yoram Savion, with creative direction from conference emcee Sarah Crowell.
III. Meet Me There
we be a story
we be a story of love so brave
it braids a bridge
across currents of
shame and silence
we be a story of love so brave
it braids a bridge
over trouble
transforms pipelines of raw oil
into acres of wild alkali & birds of paradise
meet me there
in the city where we’ve cleansed
the sky of stories that says
we’re better off divided
walk me there
to the sanctuary where we disrupt
the mythical parable that promises
safety in our separateness
where we pray (in all the ways humans have ever prayed)
for justice and joy
for stories of solidarity
for Freedom
for Freedom
I’ll walk you there
I’ll walk you there
past the cypher
the hoops
where the bridge bends into a circle
there, there
where there is no first and no last
no end and no beginning
on the middle of the bridge, where
we’ve forgiven each other’s hopes
that our pasts could’ve been any different
where we stay
when we’d rather look away
where we honor each other’s rage
in fact, carry it on our journies
like pearls of great price
where the peacemakers,
the healers,
the restorers,
the storytellers,
the lovers are, at last,
at the center of all things
beautiful to us
here we give thanks
here we give thanks
for the breaking that brought out
the human and the hyphen
the heaven and the other
how will we know that we’ve arrived?
we’ll know
by the sound of hammers
and collapsing guns
we’ll know
when the hidden meaning of tears
have no reason to run
we’ll know
when the most beautiful words
in the human language
can stand untranslated
we’ll feel the sheen of sweat
and our delirious hearts
breaking down borders
and bridging a way through
we’ll redesign the aisles
made to divide us
we’ll move as flesh moves with bone
we’ll speak as teeth speak with tongue
we won’t withhold our neighbor
from the pain of growth
nor will we withhold
hope
it will be a home
for each of us
once broken
at last
now whole
