I will share suggestions from some of my poet friends.

From Don Yorty (donyorty.com): “I’m going to the gym. Going to outlive that piece of shit.”

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From Mary Cappello (marycappello.com): “I also went to the gym; did a zoom playdate with my 9 year old niece, dancing and drawing; prepared for an upcoming reading I’m giving; and cooked a warm meal. Focusing on the next generation, the power of art, local activism and community, and keeping the faces and baiting words of the monsters out of view and earshot.”

We must fight the bullshit with what we can do. Like Don Yorty, I can outlive him. Like Mary Cappello, I can focus on the young and the power of art. I can write, I can walk, I can talk, I can read and quote poetry as a revolutionary act. I went to a reading at the Frieda Community Cafe on Walnut Street in Philadelphia this past Saturday. Frieda supports a program partnering with Mighty Writers. It gave me such joy to hear the young writers reading their stories in response to the artwork of P.W.Pritchett. I can feel that joy in spite of the political and societal turmoil we will surely experience for the next few years. I can buy for my great niece turning one year old in February, the book, Downward Dog with Diego by P.W.Pritchett book from Frieda next time I go. (It’s also available on Bookshop.org.)

What can you do?