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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nA proud Minneapolitan who traveled far and wide across the Twin Cities to get here, Bea <\/span>is a junior here at Macalester. Majoring in creative writing and history, she believes in <\/span>creating spaces for community history-telling and resistance. She is passionate about disability <\/span>justice, and currently works with the organization Cow Tipping Press, which holds creative <\/span>writing workshops for adults with developmental disabilities and radically rethinks inclusivity in <\/span>art and in society. This year marks Bea\u2019s tenth year playing euphonium, and she hopes to <\/span>celebrate by practicing more wholeheartedly. She spends most weekends laughing and crafting <\/span>with her mom and grandma, who taught her everything she knows about giving a damn.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Please enjoy Bea\u2019s poetry!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Unmaps instead of a map land bumble along feel your fingertip one by one unwound. healing doesn\u2019t \u201cfix.\u201d stars blink, we too glitch our \u201cidentities:\u201d yes, but celebrates the unmap teaches and won\u2019t yield to let there aren\u2019t criminal surnames resurface to cartographers kingdoms to question can you feel old new The Sun Swingsets<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n this yell-talk outshines swingset clatters me and eight year old me take two seats Give a damn.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe curb cuts are the footprints of ancestors who gave a damn. Will big bathroom stalls give the little ones Do you raise your hand to be excused from your dreams Did they tell you the past few days aren\u2019t stains, Did we get it in large print\u2014that we can\u2019t create community using competition Where are the Romp Ramps? What are you the sound of? Sophie Hilker ’20 For our final installment of Wordplay this semester, The Words is thrilled to present the work of English major Bea Chihak ’20. A proud Minneapolitan who traveled far and wide across the Twin Cities to get here, Bea is a junior here at Macalester. Majoring in creative writing and history, she believes […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":913,"featured_media":0,"parent":1839,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1813","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/913"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1813"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7315,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1813\/revisions\/7315"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\n\n\n
<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>an unmap. worn from good use.
<\/span>unfold it, and feel<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>unplucked by centipede feet
<\/span>up-mushed by earthquakes.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>graze on what we name \u201cscars,\u201d wounds
<\/span>where all borders broke<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>the unmap\u2019s not \u201cglorious.\u201d
<\/span>trauma weaves each inch;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>but goes on in citizens
<\/span>who all came from Space.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>confident as google maps
<\/span>on low battery.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>like calling the wind a flag.
<\/span>the unmap labels,<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Rondo, Bde Maka Ska
<\/span>and Pacha Mama.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>how to let rivers speak tongues
<\/span>they were born gushing<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>national security
<\/span>build the alphabet.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>records in the lost and found
<\/span>only family<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>to breathable air, resting
<\/span>atop the blank page.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>the unmap talks back, questions
<\/span>their city squiggles<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>marks. the human body is
<\/span>undecided. Hand:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>heat cold you me and other
<\/span>borrowed traditions?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>laughs splatter lavender into the sun\u2019s slow stop
<\/span>clops as the stick horses graze for a last snack
<\/span>and the grass wears snowsugar clumps in her hair
<\/span>the basketball court is losing its four square paint
<\/span>the old guard chain link fence barrels down
<\/span> <\/span>into a resting place<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>our feet pitter or patter
<\/span>the moon clinks our eyes like glasses
<\/span>earth\u2019s magnetic field pulses through our front teeth
<\/span> teeth are just tenants
<\/span>we hold a piece of fence to each ear
<\/span>and until night stitches up the shadows
<\/span>yell-talking, we almost hear each other<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Invisible like so many of the ingredients
<\/span>in existence-soup.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>lots of water and sunlight
<\/span>when we\u2019re not there?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>or wait for the bell to ring
<\/span>buzz flash?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>just life? Or are your grades stain-shaped
<\/span>and brains five paragraphed?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>or nonviolence using institutionalization
<\/span>or sexiness using ableism?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Ramps for cavorting
<\/span>and mischief.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>What are you closed in
<\/span>or close captioned?<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"