#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream
The yard in the storm
The day after our wedding we woke up in a hotel in Manchester, New Hampshire. We checked out early and drove the rest of the way north to the lake where we had rented a cottage with a dock. This morning, I wanted a swim in a lake too. Frank, for once, didn’t have tennis, so he happily joined me for a swim, with the dogs. I took my own hearty swim, working through the tired limbs from yesterday’s exertions. Then we cheerfully drove to buy some plants for my gardens. I bought two small mountain laurels and some lovely lilies and lots of phlox, white and pink, and some pinks and also a small Japanese shrub. Frank even joined me and dug all the holes for me, which was wonderful. It was fun to be doing the project together in the hot sun. I transplanted some Jill in the Pulpits too, and I weeded a bit and put some new impatiens in pots. Whew! As lovely and summery and sweet as the first half of the day was, the afternoon cracked open into a furious and wild storm, with wild hail that covered the deck and all the furniture, as if someone had dumped an ice chest full of ice onto the cushions. The wind howled and blew leaves off the trees and Charlie and Suzi cowered miserably under our feet. It was such a wonderful storm bringing so much needed water, flooding, for awhile, the lawn with grass puddles. I have been hearing, over the last three days, in the news, about a young man, Elijah McClain, a 23 year old Black man, a massage therapist, who died after an encounter with police in Aurora Colorado last August on his way home after buying tea at a convenience store. The governor of Colorado has just opened an investigation after a D.A. said last November that there wasn’t enough evidence to charge the police officers involved with any crimes. Using only lines from a news article from CNN, I have drafted a “found” poem:
Dear Suspicious Person Elijah an Angel Among Humans
On one of the officers' body
cameras, you are heard
I'm an introvert, please
respect the boundaries
that I am speaking
The lawyer for your family says
He would go to play
his violin on lunch hour
to animals waiting to be
adopted so they wouldn't be
lonely.
Your mother says you were
a responsible
and curious child
a vegetarian
who could inspire
the darkest soul
Elijah McClain should be alive today
the body cam of a policeman says
you were trying to stop your music
to listen to the officers
one of them is recorded saying
I'm going to bring my dog out
and he's going to dog bite you.
paramedics arrived at the scene
they administered ketamine
to sedate you, the coroner says
you suffered
a heart attack
in the ambulance
you were declared
brain dead
three days later
An autopsy did not determine
your cause of death
after police officers from Aurora
put you in a chokehold
a police review board declared,
the force applied
during the altercation
was within policy
and consistent with training
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/25/us/colorado-investigation-elijah-mcclain-died-in-custody/index.html
Frank and Suzi, morning swim