Many thanks to Steve Bland at Slo Provisions for welcoming my work into such an inviting space and to Christine Marie of Arts Obispo for all her coordinating magic.
For the women of Saudi Arabia who, as of June 24, have regained their rightful place behind the wheel.
12″x12″, acrylic on canvas.
Only Mother’s soup
will do for this ache. Tuck in,
let the gills return.
Dreams wander, homeless,
until they cross the sandy
threshold to the sea.
In this downward plunge
I search for your face,
ever turned toward the light.
Acrylic on Canvas, 18″ x 24″
This piece is for our dearly deported.
Yesterday, an official from the Department of Homeland Security stated that within a span of six weeks, this administration has separated 2,000 immigrant children from their parents or guardians at the U.S.-Mexico border. In theory, these children are sent to government facilities or short-term foster care until relatives in the US can be located by officials of the Office of Refugee Settlement. In some cases, this does occur. But as Dara Lind explains in her article “The Trump administration’s separation of families at the border, explained”, there are many factors that prevent these children from being reunited with their families.
The first issue is that of the resettlement centers themselves. As of June 7, they are at 95% capacity, leaving little space to care for the minors who wait for their parents to serve out their sentences for illegal entry into the US. Moreover, there is the concern of the sponsors to whom these children have been released. There have been allegations that in some cases minors have been released to traffickers. Finally, there is the discrepancy between ICE’s assertion that parents will be united with their children and documented cases where this has not occurred. After completing their sentences, there are parents who are being deported without their children. And, as Lind’s article asserts, there are even cases of children being deported without their parents.
I recognize that this is a complicated problem. But as a mother, a daughter, a human being, I also recognize that this is an unjust solution.
Unfold a city.
Cradle her, spoon poised skyward,
so that she may sing.
-In memory of A.B.
