Jorge earned enough to be under the taxable limit
Because he didn’t want to pay for war
He couldn’t say “No” when someone asked
“Would you help us fight back?”
He gave and gave and gave some more
Rarely drank, but smoked like it was the 50s
He said his “career” was resistance
He said he’d been arrested 17 times
His world was often crowds, noise, speed
A friend told him to take a day off
“But the poor and the Muslims can’t take a day off”
And he kept on going
After years of daily effort and exertion
On local, national, and global issues
He looked at himself in the mirror and wondered
“Who the fuck is that stranger?”
And crawled back into bed
And stayed there for a couple of days
No internet no news no radio
Just silence
No going from one meeting to the next
Only stillness
No mind racing about the next downtown confrontation
Merely mind slowing down
He realized: Something inside
Was already dead
He realized: He hadn’t
Smiled in months
He realized: The next thing to do—
Contact Carla Nguyen
–from Our Heroic and Ceaseless 24/7 Struggle against Tsuris
