By Katherine West
Equity is something that is dealt with in D.C. or not dealt with in those red states that still use the “n” word or in big cities with big crime . . . where is the white channel on this police radio? not in this small town in this blue state where the Apaches still dance not here where artists and tweakers share the park where beaters and hummers share the road where the governor is Hispanic and a woman and we were all vaccinated in a timely manner not in this small house where the one who cooks never does the dishes, no, equity is not an issue here, not in our bed where I cannot sleep at night too full of all the words I must not speak in the day, words that choke as well as any outlawed police hold so that from not being able to speak I arrive at not being able to breathe to think to dance with the Apaches, the Salsa band, R & B on the KKK station my feet only move the way the hanged man’s twitch even after he’s dead even though I’m not dead am I? in my blue state art town where the rainbow coalition picnics together at the same big table in the shade where I, wearing my silence and my pink apron, serve a meal I must not eat.
Katherine West lives in Southwest New Mexico. She has written four collections of poetry: The Bone Train, Scimitar Dreams, Riddle, and Raising the Sparks. Her poetry has also appeared in many journals, including Writing in a Woman’s Voice, Lalitamba, Bombay Gin, New Verse News, Tanka Journal, Splash!, Eucalypt, and Southwest Word Fiesta, as well as in art exhibitions at the Light Art Space gallery in Silver City, New Mexico, and at the Windsor Museum in Windsor, Colorado. Katherine has two published novels, under the pen name Kit West: Lion Tamer and When Night Comes, A Christmas Carol Revisited, the latter published by Breaking Rules Publishing (BRP), for whom she teaches creative writing workshops. A sequel to When Night Comes—Slave, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Revisited—is pending publication by BRP. Follow Katherine on Facebook.
Illustration, “Twice Born Woman,” by Katherine (Kit) West. From Katherine:
My lino cuts are inspired by nature, spirituality, and social justice. They do not attempt perfection, rather, they aim to suggest the mystical moment of connection, either with an idea, a flower, or a sudden understanding of justice. At the center of my work is love. The true work of the human animal. Our only hope.
See more of her work on her Facebook artist page.
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Fabulous!