we love you. we want genocide to stop. : a group poem inspired by June Jordan

Last night about 70 people gathered last night in the love ethic of June Jordan. We wrote about what we want and how big our wants are and how small are wants are and how it feels to have to demand over and over again the very basic dignity we want for everyone. We wrote about what we commit to and how we feel about commitment and how it feels to create our own forms of commitment when patriarchal capitalist commitment has been extracted from us in so many ways. We wrote about our emergent beliefs and the possibilities love is making us brave enough to recognize in ourselves and each other. And then we made this group poem about what we mean when we say we want peace.

Love and gratitude to everyone who participated last night. If you missed it and you want to write along with all the prompts, the recording is here: https://sangodare.podia.com/i-said-i-loved-you-and-i-wanted-genocide-to-stop-a-reflective-writing-workshop-on-revolutionary-love

I recommend reading this poem outloud or even better, TOGETHER.

we love you.  we want genocide to stop.

by the participants in “I SAID I LOVED YOU AND I WANTED GENOCIDE TO STOP”: June Jordan’s Revolutionary Love Ethic

we say good night and we want all of us to make it until tomorrow

we say good morning and we want you to be alive

we say good morning and we want everyone to eat

we say these are unprecedented times

and we want unprecedented love to meet it

we say intifada and we want land back

we say we want the genocide to end - and we mean it

we say we are radical and we want a revolution

we say NOW and we want CEASEFIRE

we say it’s time and we want it now

we say ceasefire now and we want it now, now!

we say ceasefire and we want you to know that’s the bare minimum

we say ceasefire and we want olive trees too big too wrap our arms around.

we say none of us are free if Palestine is not free and we want everyone be able to see.

we say now and we want sooner than now. 

we say now and we mean immediately.

we say now and we mean ALWAYS.

we say we all have a right to be here

& that means the mangroves and the coral and the parrot fish too.

we say we aren’t afraid to die and we want to live fully

we say we say we want to be free & we want you to be free too.

we say to love thy neighbor and we want that love for ourselves

we say we love each other and we want genocide to stop

we say amen and we want peace

we say peace and we want all of us to feel it

we say we want peace and we want space to grieve

we say pa’lante and we want love that sets us free

we say freedom and we want to create new ways of being

we say we want liberation and we want love

we say love, we want love’s liberation

we say we want freedom and we want to experience nothing but pure pleasure

we say “love us” and we want to be seen for all we are

we say friendship and we want the critters too

we say please & we want our power back

we say “power!” and we want our children to know love without fear

we say children are our future & we want them to have a future to be our future in

we say we love the water and we want it clean for everyone, for every living being

we say we love the water and we want it clean and free for every whale, every whale

we say love is here and we want bridges

we say the world is loving and we want a loving world

we say we are sure and we want to believe

we say we are already worthy and we want to believe it

we say we are enough and we want to believe it

we say there is enough for all of us, and we want all of us to have enough.

we say “enough” and we want every living being to be honored always and in all ways

we say Fannie Lou Hamer and we want to come back to our folks with EVERYTHING

we say all our relations and we want well fed human dignity

we say we believe in all of us, and we want our actions to show it.

we say another world is possible and we want to be believed

we say another world is possible and we want no wars, no nato, no borders, no america, no thirsty child dying hungry beneath the rubble

we say we know and we do!

we say WE KNOW WE ARE FREE and we want ALL to know it and act like it

WE SAY WE ARE ALREADY FREE AND WE WANT OUR WORLD TO LOOK LIKE IT

we say we believe that maybe, just maybe, our love is enough to make the world we all want and deserve, and who wants us

we say maybe and we want it sure.

we say we are falling through the cracks, and we want a different way.

we say we are lonely and we want the loneliness to have a door

we say a new world and we want safe space to dream it into reality.

we say LovE LOVE LOve and  we want Belonging

we say trans lives matter & we want you to live in your body like us

we say “hello, beautiful!” and we want everyone to feel hailed

we say dive deep and come up for air.

we say no and we want love

we say fuck off and we want help

we say nothing and we want, so often, so much more

we say nothing because our words are insufficient to capture all of the grief and rage

and we want freedom and love and peace NOW.

we say tricksters are present, and we want them to help.

WE SAY WE LOVE HARD AND WE WANT KILLERS STOP KILLING

WE SAY WE CAN LOVE OURSELVES AND YOU AND WE WANT YOU TO STOP HATING

we say love is bigger than easy and we are mapping and learning its edges

we say we feel the dark feminine’s return and we want Patriarchy to take it’s final breath NOW.

we say this hurts, and we want competent protection.

we say it’s been hurting for too long and we want justice.

we say we're tired and we want to be heard

we say we are tired and we want the freedom to rest

we say i am tired and we want to the world to make a bed

we say rest and we want soft hands and loving arms to cradle us.

we say we are scared and we want our fear to make us bigger not smaller.

we know that’s not how it works.

we want the workings to be inverted.

power subverted.

we say “here we are” and we want to provide alchemical healing

we say peace words and we want them to soften your heart

and expand your mind

and grow your heart

and tingle under your skin

we say we want the warmth and stillness of the ocean

to be a balm and a peace that washes over

spirits suffering the lies we tell ourselves

we say we need to be safe and we say we need to gather and we want both for all, at all times.

we say our bodies are sacred and we want intense love

we say t4t & we want bodies like flags to nations without borders

we say we need refuge, and we want to dance, dance and dance.

we say “let’s gather” and we want to dance and drum

we say “guess what?” and we want everyone to recognize that capitalism is not inevitable nor permanent

we say butterflies and we want to hear the vibrations of all our wings fluttering soft and sure

we say Shhht and we want to listen to the birds

we say nothing and we want to hear the bees

we say nothing and we want to know our ancestors are speaking in the silence

we say peace and we want peace

we say freedom and we want freedom

we say love and we want love

we say we and we want we

We love you. Come write with us!