Photo by Tim Mossholder
The Foundations of Exile
Christian Emecheta
[here is where we begin]
existing between eviction notices: four walls trembling with mold, memories leaking like broken pipes
we are undone
in contested spaces:
clothed with ejection
running on stolen time
what makes a nation collapse? the quiet years when rent climbs faster than wages, or the government amassing profit from our health
our room remembers
ICE at the door
our doorway measures
the debt we inherited
our window frames
speaks of a neighbor’s limited life
our table holds
empty plates and hollow talks
over rising pressure
life is a combat we fight daily: the sum of all the rejections between "go" and "no vacancy"
(in these ruins)
(we fight)
(undocumented)
Christian Emecheta
[here is where we begin]
existing between eviction notices: four walls trembling with mold, memories leaking like broken pipes
we are undone
in contested spaces:
clothed with ejection
running on stolen time
what makes a nation collapse? the quiet years when rent climbs faster than wages, or the government amassing profit from our health
our room remembers
ICE at the door
our doorway measures
the debt we inherited
our window frames
speaks of a neighbor’s limited life
our table holds
empty plates and hollow talks
over rising pressure
life is a combat we fight daily: the sum of all the rejections between "go" and "no vacancy"
(in these ruins)
(we fight)
(undocumented)