Back in February I participated the 2019 Square Root of Love:Broken Heart project, a humbling and powerful evening of poetry. This special edition commemorated the tragedy of the Parkland, FL high-school massacre. A difficult subject, but an important conversation.
The event featured readings and multimedia projections from a range of talents including David Barnes, Antonia Alexandra Klimenko, Cecilia, Llompart, Rethabile Masilo, Camille Andrea Rich, Moe Seager, Daniel Wilner, and Nina Zivancevic.
Special thanks to Ed Bell and Kristina Vaughan for organising the Paris chapter, and John Sims for giving us the opportunity to participate in this series.
My untitled contribution is just a drop in the bucket, and I know words are cheap and I am physically far removed from this tragedy, but I like to believe every word counts. This subject cannot become normalized.
*****
Let it burn.
Let’s talk designer drugs and standardized testing
all the way to austerity economics.
Scorch the Earth, I mean it.
Do it for the kids.
The late-game player knows nothing good
ever happens in easy mode.
The benchmark is veteran.
Teach the adrenal cortex to think for itself and:
a) Clamber up and out the mouth,
b) Walk in schoolboy shoes,
c) Take the safety off,
d) All of the above.
Corrode, corrode, corrode.
Callus them to survive.
Read the tea-leaves of torn cuticles,
the tinsel of white metal and flak.
Teach them to cut
eye-holes in sleep masks
for this is what we call adult: the best
a human can get.
The threshold is suicidal ideation.
The litmus test is solvency.
Let it burn and:
a) Unlearn the Declaration of Human Rights,
b) Forget the principles of flight,
c) Lead by example and never look back,
d) All of the above.
With love as your guide,
embrace work ethic and repetitive strain,
give your best self to performance metrics.
Cover your vitals, hand over heart,
and repeat after me:
Corrode, corrode, corrode
until the soil grows black with potential.
Yann Rousselot 
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