In last’s night’s posting, History Speaks of Present I spoke of an old friend that brought me a letter that she had written to her mom shortly after the Milwaukee 14 action of destroying 1A draft records in 1968. She also brought me a copy of a poem I wrote for the local Catholic Worker paper of the time from the county jail three days after the Milwaukee 14 action. It is below, and although primitive, expressing feelings of being over doing that stay with me today.

the presence

bent by fear into what
no one feels to be
the moment now
in presence of someone
speaks a joy
not said by any doings

the action of being with someone
to identify by presence
at least in some equivalent way
means more than anything you can do
for anyone
to identify is more than to be involved
it is to say yes in the most radical way –
by being where the one you love is-
hungry, homeless, in jail, the classroom,
assembly line, walking on the beach.

Milwaukee Country Jail Annex
September 27, 2012

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