Yale University Statement
*
the week before Rachael Shaw-Rosenbaum’s death
strands of grass swipe across my crossed legs
like snapping viola strings. i am on strike
at a college that filled the front lawn
with symbolic backpacks after a student’s
suicide instead of providing material
support. no amount of administrative li-
ability-claiming fixes the sadness in my anger,
the grief in my Madness. once i had a body
& now my body has the space it occupies,
the bright & unbearable amount of need
i cannot lose. i cannot disappear that fact.
& still i sometimes feel like i can stretch
my chronically ill self forever, across
the world, pulling like a bow, stringing
my friends’ fingers through mine to stay
warm on the picket line. it is awful & i am
alive, & a man i have never met before
hands out homemade soy milk. i say anger
in pursuit of love & i mean love right
here, anyway.
Courtney Felle (she/they) is a recent graduate of Kenyon College who now lives between Western NY and Washington, DC. Their previous writing can be found in Glass: A Journal of Poetry, Half Mystic Press, The Ellis Review, and L’Éphémère Review, among other publications. They are a big fan of long road trips, large mugs of tea, ultra-specific Spotify playlists, and disabled community support. You can find them on Twitter and Instagram.