i wrote two poems called “stronger together” - one before the 2016 election, and one after. it wasn’t something i did on purpose; i had genuinely forgotten that i had already written a poem titled that. those early days were hard. (these later days are hard, too.)
both poems are about hope. i had been watching the first season of supergirl at the time, and finished the season just a couple of days before election day. i cried watching kara give her speech on hope then, and i cried rewatching it for the writing of this newsletter.
what she said is better than the first poem i wrote. i particularly love: “i need you to hope. hope. that you will remember that you can all be heroes. hope. that when faced with an enemy determined to destroy your spirit, you will fight back and thrive.”
hope feels particularly dangerous right now, possibly because it feels so reminiscent of two years ago. the second poem i wrote, right after election day, starts: “i struggle with hope, sometimes. / it feels foolish, because the world keeps / knocking us down, again and again and again / and again and again and again and again.”
i don’t think anyone would be surprised to find that i had written a grim poem, that ended there, or at least stayed with that sentiment. the poem keeps going, though: “but it is not foolish to hope, / because hope needs to be the engine / that drives our anger.”
i share this not because i think either of these poems are good (i don’t) but because i do think the sentiment is a good one. as i’ve said before, hope is essential, even if it’s not enough.
please vote, darlings. as rebecca solnit said, think of it like a chess move, not a valentine. (and if you want to be playing a different game altogether? great! work towards that. for now, it may be a crooked game, but it’s the only one in town.)
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this week’s deck: the gorgon’s tarot
this week’s stones: quartz, tiger’s eye