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| Uploaded: | 2020-09-16 |
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Erika Meitner reads her poem, "I’ll Remember You as You Were, Not as What You’ll Become".
Erika:
http://erikameitner.com/
https://twitter.com/rikam99
Thanks for watching Ours Poetica, which is produced by Complexly, if you’re a US citizen and you want to not only keep imagining the world complexly with us but also have a voice in your government, check out How To Vote In Every State. The rules for voting are different depending on where you live, so we’ve made a whole series of videos explaining how to vote in each state, as well as some advice for special cases like territories and overseas voters. Check out our 2020 guide at youtube.com/howtovoteineverystate
Brought to you by Complexly, The Poetry Foundation, and poet Paige Lewis. Learn more: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/
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Erika:
http://erikameitner.com/
https://twitter.com/rikam99
Thanks for watching Ours Poetica, which is produced by Complexly, if you’re a US citizen and you want to not only keep imagining the world complexly with us but also have a voice in your government, check out How To Vote In Every State. The rules for voting are different depending on where you live, so we’ve made a whole series of videos explaining how to vote in each state, as well as some advice for special cases like territories and overseas voters. Check out our 2020 guide at youtube.com/howtovoteineverystate
Brought to you by Complexly, The Poetry Foundation, and poet Paige Lewis. Learn more: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/
11 issues of Poetry, subscribe today for $20: https://poetrymagazine.org/OursPoetica
Follow us elsewhere for the full Ours Poetica experience:
twitter.com/ourspoeticashow
instagram.com/ourspoeticashow
facebook.com/ourspoeticashow
#poetry #ourspoetica
My name is Erika Meitner, and the poem I'm going to read for you is called "I'll Remember You as You Were, Not as What You'll Become". And the title of the piece comes from a piece of video art that I encountered at the 2017 Whitney Biennial, by Native American visual artist Sky Hopinka. And the poem itself was inspired by my participation in the 2017 Women's March on Washington. So this is a protest poem, and I think it's still pretty relevant today.
I'll Remember You as You Were, Not as What You'll Become
If you are fearful, America,
I can tell you I am too. I worry
about my body—the way, lately,
it marches itself over curbs and
barriers, lingers in the streets
as a form of resistance.
The streets belong to no one
and everyone and are a guide
for motion, but we are so numerous
there is no pavement left on which to
release our bodies, like a river spilling
over a dam, so instead my body
thrums next to yours in place.
When we stop traffic or hold
hands to form a human chain,
we become a neon OPEN sign
singing into the night miles from
home when the only home left
is memory, your body, my body,
our scars, the dark punctuated
with the dying light of stars.
I'll Remember You as You Were, Not as What You'll Become
If you are fearful, America,
I can tell you I am too. I worry
about my body—the way, lately,
it marches itself over curbs and
barriers, lingers in the streets
as a form of resistance.
The streets belong to no one
and everyone and are a guide
for motion, but we are so numerous
there is no pavement left on which to
release our bodies, like a river spilling
over a dam, so instead my body
thrums next to yours in place.
When we stop traffic or hold
hands to form a human chain,
we become a neon OPEN sign
singing into the night miles from
home when the only home left
is memory, your body, my body,
our scars, the dark punctuated
with the dying light of stars.