from basic needs
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The talk is of a man in the desert
He killed other men and women and them in the desert They are using the word historic to speak of him Superlatives to speak of him We know history We know this is not what they say it is They have a way of burying the point The people who make a clear point Who with passion until without say stop Killing us and us in the street In the vast deserts beyond ours Now they are saying it is a thing of freedom To say at all But where was that the point The small deep point is long gone now They have asked us to change What we think of They have asked me to be a part Of their committee on feelings They want to know how we feel How do you feel About the benefits you have And what you don’t have How we maintain them for you That we might change for you I don’t know the difference Between this and death the desert The sound of stop of our lived reality Will I remind them of desert And street which are no metaphor And say this is all that I mean What will I say to the committee if We cannot say politely This was a year of great freedom Because of great constraint Knowing nothing more than the present Longing of total Love With mystery And without |
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Vanessa Jimenez Gabb is the author of Images for Radical Politics, Editor’s Pick in the 2015 Rescue Press Black Box Poetry Contest. She received her MFA from CUNY Brooklyn College, and she is from and lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Paolo Morales is a photographer. He was born and raised in New York City and currently lives in Virginia. He received an MFA in photography from Rhode Island School of Design, attended Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, and teaches at George Mason University and The Potomac School.