on my free period a student runs in with a video that’s of New York City she says they attacking Mister! I look at the video and see palm trees and a shaky explosion and reassure her that is not New York and we’re not going to die and as she leaves I work back to how we got here 1. Facts On January 3, 2020, Donald Trump ordered American drones to strike an air base near Baghdad. Iranian major general Qasem Soleimani was killed. Iranians mourned publicly, the government said they would retaliate. Donald Trump threatened to retaliate on their retaliation. On January 8, 2020, Iranian forces fired rockets at an American air base in Iraq. No one was killed. Both Iranian and American leaders said they did not seek escalation. 2. The News “U.S. Strike in Iraq Kills Qassim Suleimani, Commander of Iranian Forces” — The New York Times “A Candlelight Vigil, Rally Held to Pay Homage to Qasim Sulemani” — UrduPoint News “Legal basis for US killing of Iran general depends on threat” — The Washington Post “Republicans Rally Behind Trump’s Iran Strike, but Think War is Now More Likely” — Politico “Democrats Ramp Up Calls for War Powers Vote After the Iran Strike” — The Hill “2020 Democrats Risk Backlash in Trashing Trump’s Iran Strike” — Fox News “Could Iran Attack Spark WWIII?” — Express.co.uk “What Can Peace Activists Do to Prevent War With Iran?” — Nation of Change “Prayer vigil pushes for peaceful solution in Iran crisis” — Catholic Standard “Los Angeles: Local Iranian Community Hopes Peace Prevails Amid Tensions” — Spectrum News 1 “Missiles launched by Iran against US airbases in Iraq” — The Guardian “Iran's strikes seem intended to avoid US deaths. Here's why that might be the case.” — CNN “Popular Instagram account recycles old Iran missile strike video” — Al Jazeera “It’s all up to Trump now” — Vox.com “Trump warns Iran but says US 'ready to embrace peace with all who seek it'” — USA Today “Did Twitter Help Stop War With Iran?” — Wired.com Stay tuned for further coverage 3. Social Media trends #Iran #IranAttacks #IranVSAmerica @realDonaldTrump @JZarif #soleimani videos [uncredited] [low-res] [no source] [unverified] [unrelated] images [shared] [unchecked] [outdated] [playing on stereotypes] articles [circulated] [curated] [baseless] [opinionated] comments [too many to list] [every side taken] statuses [varied] [citations needed] conspiracies [rampant] unrest [stoked] fear [mongered] [spread] distractions [numerous] story [evolving] click below to share your thoughts! 4. Me I follow the news and talk with my boyfriend and avoid social media and can’t believe how easily all of this could be averted, the needlessness of it, yet feel sure nothing more drastic will happen but maybe that’s just my relative safety and cynicism suggesting this is the way of the world for now and I wonder what is the place for art and poetry at this time? 5. My Student and here we are days after she told me we’d all die and more has happened but for the time being we will be alright I show her a draft of this, tell her I’m working through what happened and she says yes please because we’re all like panicking and when I ask her why she explains we been seeing videos she tells me like strong videos; watching people dying she turns back to her research on the Australian fires and then says again that we’re really gonna die with so much happening like the earthquakes that happened near her country and I say that on top of it her best friend transferred schools and she laughs that I am still thinking of small tragedies how we rank our pain and our fear and prioritize I marvel at how they sort through so much hurt every day while still coming to class almost on time and maybe I’ve put my focus in the wrong places at times but at least I am here to help them through things sometimes I am actively writing this poem while she drafts her book and she asks me if it’s better to write no one has taken action or no one is taking action and this grammatical clarification gives me hope because I encourage her to focus on the is what is happening now, we are taking action and how going forward we will take more action if we’re still alive she says but it seems like she thinks we will be

Poets Resist is published by Glass Poetry Press.
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