Love Song for Jane Addams

And then there was the night

the city barn burnt down,

charred horses screaming

who couldn't be shot without official permission

and no one could get the officials

out of bed.

So they called you. Never mind

the prostitutes, illegitimate babies,

kindergartens and reading clubs.

It was the way you stood there

stone-faced, all chi rho cross and conscience

until the final silence came. Your knowledge

of what it took to end

the suffering.

When you said

we never tire of doing

what we know is right

I know you meant it.

But when you get this next gift

please keep it for yourself.

No Solutions

I haven't posted in awhile, but I somehow always want to blog when I am supposed to be actually writing my dissertation. I wrote a pretty big section today, though, so I think I will take a break!

When we were driving home on Tuesday, we saw a middle-aged man in a nice car who obviously was looking for a prostitute. He pulled over on Martin, right next to Sullivant, and without thinking I pulled over right behind him. He swerved out and kept driving, but by the time we circled around he had a woman in his car. So we followed him back to Bellows until he finally pulled over to let us pass. We looked him in the eye as we drove by. He was laughing. I couldn't see the expression on the woman's face.

I am not sure what we were trying to accomplish by following him. I didn't want him to get out of the car and talk to us. I really didn't want to start a fight and I knew he was still going to pick up a sex worker that afternoon whether we followed him or not. I guess we wanted him to know that someone was watching him and maybe make him a little nervous. I don't know why he was laughing, but I can't stop thinking about it.

We just finished a powerful conflict resolution class taught by our friend Kyle. A lot of it took place in the spring when I was too emotionally drained to attend a lot of the classes. I wish I made it to more. The conversations I remember most are the ones we had about sex work in our community. I feel so violent just thinking about the abuses to women in our neighborhood that it is hard to imagine a peaceful solution. Or any solution at all.

On a happier note, the goats seem to be doing well! We are getting them fixed up in the backyard. This weekend we need to fence off our house because they love nibbling on the shingles! When Jane Addams first became socially conscious she got a herd of sheep hoping to become more connected to the land. Unfortunately, she didn't know anything about sheet and they all got hoof rot. I am trying to make sure that that doesn't happen! I still have a lot of reading to do, but I have at least figured out how to trim their hooves. De-worming them has been more of a challenge, but it has been a good experience so far!