"Against Travel"
for Suzanne
What Thay says gets repeated until I can carry it. It's not the same as a habit that hurts every instance it is practiced or hurts worse, a spot on a lip gets bitten again and again.
It's swollen.
When conditions aren't good, supports that exist cannot be perceived. Or was I watching the video that Suzanne sent, replaying Judith Butler walking redefining the walk with her companion Sunaura Taylor who was born with Arthrogryposis and walks alongside with her high powered chair. You and I argue silently; over the cause of our inability to perceive, who said it, how it was said, which politics it reveals and if it is politics at all. How much of it is love. Possibly love, possibly love tainted by some other emotion goddess forgive anger god forbid jealousy. Bloods, bloodletting. Events become objects that speak to what gets in our way. Today's random appearance is I've nothing to gain. I could say we but won't speak for you here. Marielle Franco was assassinated in the street. Not last night, the night before.
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Author Bio: Rachel Levitsky is the author Under the Sun (Futurepoem, 2003), NEIGHBOR (UDP, 2009) and the poetic novella, The Story of My Accident is Ours (Futurepoem, 2013) as well as numerous chapbooks, most recently, Hopefully, The Island, part of an ongoing collaboration with the artist Susan Bee. Levitsky builds and participates in a variety of publishing, collaboration and pedagogical/performative activities, such “Geometries of Recognition” a movement poetry workshop turned super8 film by Stephanie Gray. In 1999 she founded Belladonna* which is now Belladonna* Collaborative. She teaches writing Pratt Institute, Naropa Summer Writing Program and lay institutions in NYC.