As our nation hovers at the precipice of change, anticipating our imminent political evolution, we ask ourselves what personal reincarnations should accompany this moment. Kathy Engel and Kamal Boullata, editors of We Begin Here: Poems for Palestine and Lebanon engage this very notion in their powerful anthology. Spanning over a quarter century of conflict in the Middle East, and forwarding the voices of sixty poets from multiple nations, this collection offers an intricate understanding of what it means to resist, to give birth to change, to create meaning out of astonishing political chaos and violence. In her introduction Engel writes, “We begin here. In the space between words. Our multilingual sounds affirm presence, conscience, memory.” It is this collective mission, the transformation of silence into sound, which positions these writers as disciples of language, testifying to the ability of stories to save lives.

What began as an act of poetic resistance to the 1982 military invasion of Lebanon, grew into this full-length collaboration twenty-five years later, after the second Israeli occupation of Lebanon in 2006. Featuring the poetry of such renowned writers as June Jordan, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Joy Harjo, Adrienne Rich, Naomi Shihab Nye, Sonia Sanchez, and celebrated Buffalo-based author Alexis De Veaux among others, this collection explores the notion of writing as revolutionary activism. The editors’ statement, “We are beyond asking. Now we must learn to invent,” illustrates the anthology’s deep investment in the agency of language. This collection configures artistic and political speech as the true weapon against terrorism, using the conflict in the Middle East as a metaphor for the health of our planet. According to these poets, in order to visualize peace, we have to create, communicate, imagine—we can no longer passively request but rather, through the language of our art and ideas, we must demand. The tenor of each poetic statement is raw and blinding, illustrating the ardency of speech. Their images and evocations turn your face towards the heart of violence, war and terror, and force you to find within that chasm art, poetry and life.

Thus, as we search to make meaning of this current political moment, how to navigate a country at war and deeply invested in acts of violence, I believe the answer in part can be found if we look to the poets, the artists, the seers—if we listen to their voices of resistance, if we find a way to add our own. In support of the revolutionary potential of poetry, Just Buffalo will be sponsoring a reading of selections from We Begin Here, featuring several Buffalo-based artists and peace activists including Jimmie Gilliam, Alexis De Veaux, Paul Hogan, Liz Mariani, Gary Earl Ross, Pat Shelly, as well as anthology editor Kathy Engel. The event will take place Friday, February 8 at 8pm at Hallwalls (341 Delaware Ave). In addition, on Saturday February 9th, Tru-Teas! (810 Elmwood Ave.) will be hosting a reading by Kathy Engel from her recent collection of poetry, Ruth’s Skirts. Kathy will be accompanied by this writer on saxophone. The reading will take place at 5pm and is free and open to the public.

On the ability of poetry to enact social change Kathy Engel says, “Poems are made of love and human utterance. Frailty and unfathomable tenacity. They can’t bring back the dead but they keep us alive, and they live because they manifest and extend our selves, our souls, our faith. They enter the world and stay like molecules floating through the air. Made from thought, daring, complex and historic love, everyday life, a desire for truth and the will to remember, these poems are necessary.”