Poem Riot!

three riotous poems for this moment

Happy Spring!

This month I’ve been writing and emailing poems every day to my sponsors for the March Arts Marathon. Today, I have three of those poems to share with you.

There are times when I'm writing a lot that I notice certain words pop up over and over. In these three poems, you'll see the word riotous and rioting.

What would it look like if we let our love riot?

At a time when the president is talking about removing the right to protest and framing "peace" as a very specific type of "order", what does it look like to disrupt the status quo with riotous rage fueled by love? It makes me think of that famous photo of a Vietnam War protester holding a flower up to a line of armed National Guard soldiers. How any small moment can be a tipping point. How in order to bloom, we need strong roots to hold us in those tipping point moments.

The March Arts Marathon feels like that—growing roots and community that can hold and unfurl in riotous love.

The Marathon is a fundraiser for the Central Vermont Refugee Action Network. So far, I’ve helped raise over $950, and collectively, all of the artists have raised over $75,000!

This helps asylum seekers, refugees, and migrant farmworkers in Central Vermont access housing, food, and legal support.

I invite you to donate any amount that works for you, perhaps $10 or $25. When you do, I’ll send you all of the poems I’ve shared so far, and you’ll get a poem a day for the rest of March. Thank you for sharing what you can.

And now, here are the rioting poems!

I’ve included an audio version of each one, so you can hear me reading them.

Night Bloom

some flowers only open
at night

somewhere in our cells
we remember

the riotous bloom
that tips

the bleakest dark
into hope

Photo by Florian van Duyn on Unsplash

Live Through This

We are going
to live through
this, love 

listen, even now
your heart is
beating

let each pulse
be a revolution
let each pump of
your heart's blood 
be hot as the sun

do not hide
what brings you
alive

to live through this
we must love
in riotous rage

I wrote the next poem in the midst of dealing with a lot of stress and uncertainty at work.

My job is fully funded through the USDA, and like many, our funding was abruptly frozen with no communication. Unlike many, our funding has now been restored, which means the grants we offer farmers can be reimbursed and move forward. No matter what Elon and DOGE say, the entire process is so maddeningly inefficient and harmful. So many farmers are still waiting not only for their contracts to be honored, but to have any response at all from the USDA.

You can learn more about the impact in Vermont in this article from VTDigger: Vermont Agriculture Community Reels from Federal Funding Changes

Hear from farmers across the country in this post from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coaltion: Farmers Speak Out on the Devastating Impact of the Funding Freeze

With that context, here’s the third riotous poem:

You Could Never Invent This

Let us be generous and decadent
What is the point of efficiency
if there is no laughter?
Are you really going to ask
if the chickadee needed to sing
that last note?
Or if Nana, knowing her grandchildren
would tumble through the door,
really should have bought that extra
half gallon of ice cream?
We didn't need the sweet cookies and cream
dribbling down the corners of
our mouths, after all.

Listen, I've been trimming the fat
my whole life
and I'm done with it.
Give me butter and cream
I'll bake a cake so indulgent
that I'll lick my fingers and
feel full for days —

You're getting a long poem
because I'm done with efficiency
My mind doesn't go
in a straight line and 
neither do flowers
have you seen 
the patterns in a sunflower's eye?

Are you so cruel because you're
so scared? You know AI also
means Artificial Insemination
farmers have known for years
we don't need the bulls
they're dangerous and
an insurance liability

I'd happily wave goodbye
ship you off to Mars — that planet
so devoid of life it must be
the epicenter of efficiency!
I'd celebrate your launch if
it didn't mean another explosion
on Earth. 
We don't need
more rocket fuel
We need a super bloom!
Have you seen California Poppies erupting on hillsides
or Dandelions rioting in valley fields 

Do you fear beauty because
beauty laughs in your face
Says, blooming is extravagant
and soft
you could never
invent this
and even now, with 
all your machines
you still need
flour and
water

You will never invent 
yourself out of life
you, too, will die and
no matter how much formaldehyde 
they pump into you at the end
Earth, in all her efficiency
will send in the microbes and
fungi and worms and
you, too, will 
breakdown
into soil

Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash

Thanks for reading and connecting with me here. Let’s keep growing, making art, writing poetry, gathering, feeding each other. We have so much beauty to grow!