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Taqralik Partridge

even the ones who are never sure about anything even the ones who are super quiet

even the consultants even the academics

even the ones with six figure salaries even the poorest ones

even the single mothers - especially the single mothers even the ones who ‘normally don’t like to get involved’ even the ones who thought they had turned their backs

even the guys who say insulting things and the women in their lives are never sure if they should turn their backs even the ones who were stolen from their mothers - especially the ones who were stolen from their mothers even the lawyers

even the doctors

even the government workers

even the ones who agreed that ‘it’s just a costume’ even the ones who say ‘it’s just a sports team’

even the ones who insist ‘everyone should just calm down’ even the ones who prefer to look on the bright side

even the ones who always see the downside

even the ones who know they will lose friends, lose family

even the ones who have lost family - especially the ones who have lost family even the dancers

even the poets even the politicians

even the ones who live far up north

even the ones who say ‘nobody owes you anything’ even the ones who were traveling when they found out

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even the ones who were on stage even the ones on their honeymoon even the ones with the flu

even the ones with mostly white friends even the ones with no children

even the ones who are very young even his sisters in Standing Rock even a DJ from Greenland

even Martin Luther King junior’s daughter

even the ones who send money to tv preachers

even the ones who are just clinging to their own lives - especially the ones who are just clinging to their own lives

even the ones who couldn’t bring themselves to say anything about Barbara, or Cindy, or Loretta, or Tina, or Savanna, or Anna Mae, or Annie, or Lucy, or Mary Papatsie

even the radio personalities even the reporters

even the ones who think that nobody listens

even the ones who are just trying to be ‘regular Canadians’ even the museum curators

even the hunters

even the single mothers - especially the single mothers even the singers

even the seamstresses

even the ‘recently retired and tired of it all’ ones

even the ones who only recently found their connection

even the ones whose only connection to any of this is their partner, or their child, or neighbour, or co-worker, or simple recognition of common humanity

even the ones who can only shake their heads even the ones who can only wring their hands even the ones who just can’t

all of them, all of them everyone

drew back their heads, wide-eyed, in pain,

and in fear, and in dismay and in anger but not

no, not

in disbelief

because what is known, does not require believing or not believing