“This is the only kingdom. / The kingdom of touching; / the touches of the disappearing, things.”
— Aracelis Girmay
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This poem appeared in Kingdom Animalia by Aracelis Girmay, published by BOA Editions Ltd., 2011. Shared here with deep gratitude.
I once had a surprisingly frank chat with a member of Assad's guard. He would stand sentry around his home, and was occasionally part of his retinue when traveling within Syria.
It was a surreal conversation. It summed up for me the regime's dependence on "an army of slaves" 🧵
@PeterHarling Thank God this reign of evil is over. We can rejoice over the liberation of prisons and an end to this cruelty. While in some ways this reminds me of the end of Russian presence in Afghanistan that ushered in the rule of the Taliban, hoping here it will be different…
If you can spare 45 minutes, please listen to this tale of demolition wrought by 'free trade' - especially as told by Chauncey, a Master Lock foreman, about 20 minutes in. Any 'party' that's cool with this needs tarring and feathering. https://t.co/DSty9lg0vr
@rch371 Because our society makes profits the priority and not the people. We need to rethink a path towards a better system that works for all instead of for the chosen few.
@PeterHarling It has never worked but so many innocent lives have been lost and so much generational trauma has been caused for those who lived through it. Yet we never learn. Stay safe.
@rch371 The principles of a world order based on human rights for all and anything resembling a just moral compass are being demolished as we watch and that’s what making so many of us feel a horrible sense of distress for what’s coming in the future.