David J Bauman

Host of the In Three Poems Podcast

The Day a Poet Was Murdered by ICE, poem by Hannah Levy

Poet Hannah Levy on the left. Lower right, In Three Poems podcast logo, upper right is the poem by Levy The Day a Poet is Murdered by Ice is a school day like every other in the first week of the year. Time isn’t real but still it’s January, and scientists say we’re gaining about sixty seconds of sunlight even as the sun sets. I wake up and feel closer to death than the day before. I am a mother, so I wait for my daughter at the bottom of the stairs and I hold her hand when crossing the street and when we stop at the corner I run my fingers over her ponytail like it’s my own hair. She says there’s a cloud in the sky that looks like a heart but I can’t see what she sees. I am a mother so when she is hungry I feed her and when she asks me how to spell wolves I explain how some nouns transform in the plural. Man is men and tooth is teeth and person who is murdered becomes people.

In Three Poems

If you’d like to catch up on the podcast, episode four of In Three Poems is now available on your favorite podcast apps, YouTube, or at InThreePoems.com. You can follow at any of those places.

When I read Hannah’s poem “The Day a Poet Was Murdered by ICE,” I had to reach out to her to ask if she would read it for us. I was moved by her quick response, as well as that of others I contacted, including Margaret Randall, the translator of the first poem I read in the podcast, a piece from a Guatemalan poet called “Apolitical Intellectuals.” Both Margaret and Hannah have agreed to come back in a future season of the podcast so we can hear more of their own works.

Scroll down for the podcast and poem, but first, a statement and some resources.

Human Rights and Dignity

I make no apology for my position against ICE, and Jonathan Ross, the coward who viciously killed poet Renee Nicole Good. We saw what he did, and we heard what he said, and no amount of lies from the White House or the DHS can change what we saw and heard.

Hannah and I talk a little bit about what artists can do, not just as artists, but as community members, in the cause against this authoritarian regime. But that conversation is just the beginning.

How You Can Help

While we protest, call our representatives, make our voices heard, and make plans to help our neighbors wherever we are, here are some places you can donate to to help the cause specifically in Minneapolis:

IATP.ORG – Good list of organizations for direct action, including restaurants and local business who could use support, as well as details about what ICE agents legally are allowed to do (not that they are not getting away with breaking the law).

SOURCEMN.ORG – Immigrant support and resources. Food, food shelves, food delivery, rent support, housing.

STANDWITHMINNESOTA.COM – Includes links to direct action initiatives and various individual, business, and education crowd funding campaigns who have not yet met their goals.

MINNESOTANONPROFITS.ORG – An encouraging statement of solidarity along with a nicely organized set of resources for non profit organizations, including a link free legal counsel.

ICEOUT.ORG – I’m not telling you to check out this website, though it’s legal to do so. I bet people sure could learn a lot from it.

That’s just the start of it. Feel free to add more for your location in the comments.

Poem and Podcast

Hannah Levy’s poem in memory of Renee Good is below. Please listen to her read it here on the In Three Poems podcast, episode 4.

Hannah Levy Reads "The Day a Poet Is Murdered by ICE" – In Three Poems

In this special episode of anti-fascist poetry, David talks with Hannah Levy about her poem and the current democracy crisis in the United States. They discuss the value of art as a mode to process, as well as art as a vehicle for protest and exploration of truth. Poems: "Apolitical Intellectuals" by Otto Rene Castillo, translated by Margaret Randall. Used with the translator's permission, read by David"The Day a Poet Is Murdered by ICE," written and recited by Hannah Levy"On Learning to Dissect Fetal Pigs," by Renee Nicole Good. Read by DavidLinks:Otto Rene Castillo, Apolitical Intellectuals/ Intelectuales apolíticos Writer and Translator Margaret Randall's Poetry Foundation Pagehttps://margaretrandall.org/Hannah Levy's poem, "The Day a Poet Is Murdered by ICE"https://hannaheve.substack.com/"Learning to Dissect Fetal Pigs," by Renee Nicole GoodAndre Henry's Instagram Post"Beaumont to Detroit: 1943" by Langston HughesText the show!
The Day a Poet Is Murdered by ICE is a school day like every other in the first week of the year. Time isn’t real but still it’s January, and scientists say we’re gaining about sixty seconds of sunlight even as the sun sets. I wake up and feel closer to death than the day before. I am a mother, so I wait for my daughter at the bottom of the stairs and I hold her hand when crossing the street and when we stop at the corner I run my fingers over her ponytail like it’s my own hair. She says there’s a cloud in the sky that looks like a heart but I can’t see what she sees. I am a mother so when she is hungry I feed her and when she asks me how to spell wolves I explain how some nouns transform in the plural. Man is men and tooth is teeth and person who is murdered becomes people.

Discover more from David J Bauman

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

David J. Bauman

Talk to me:

Discover more from David J Bauman

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading