So Much Has Happened Since the Insurrection

source: abc News

Amy Baskin

If we have experiences where stress is activated,
our amygdalas become more vigilant than normal and then 

If our symptoms are submitted to chronic stress,
we’re more prone to allostatic overload. 

If our mayor tells us to call 9-1-1 if a person needs a bed,
we call and ask for a welfare check and annoy the responder. 

If there are more than four thousand people sleeping on the streets,
what makes this houseless person stand out enough for me to call? 

If we need to stand out to be helped when temperatures drop,
what happens when we’re just one of many suffering? 

If the person who needs the welfare check dies of hypothermia,
will it matter to him whether people on a hill convict or acquit a clown? 

If we hug someone, it’s more difficult to stab them in the back,
or so I hear. But it is not impossible.

Amy Baskin’s work has been nominated for Pushcarts, received an Oregon Literary Arts Fellowship, and has won some prizes. When she's not writing, she matches international students at Lewis & Clark College with local residents to help them feel welcome and at home during their time in Oregon. @AmyBaskinWrites