in honour of Olympic Tent Village residents and organizers in Vancouver, B.C.
Unceded Coast Salish Territories, inaugurated February 15. 2010
nation of mud stone liberated
wood wrinkled by dialect of rain
gather contraband hearts rude
tissue absorbing dynamite pits
against six billion dollar hubris paper
flags washable tattoos red mittens
everything that comes off
tin beaks clap HOMES NOW over
derelict single room occupancies over
rusted nails fire light and coffee steam over
ligaments folded in sleeping bags
petals of flesh wire fencing
this is what hope looks like under
patent leather shoes the Indian Act
blister hands break night carve bold
out of frostbit bone wanting
life bigger than circumference of
beat cops property value official policy
take back here in collective
memory sovereign garden of chalk
graffiti poems writing ourselves
into each other’s tender places
sparrows and bread and contagious
no one safe from the weather
in our veins
Contributor Notes
gentrify this!" was written as testimony to the powerful and sustained efforts of grassroot organizers and homeless/under-housed Downtown Eastside residents in reclaiming a vacant lot owned by the Vancouver Olympic Committee, and building and defending the Olympic Tent Village during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, unceded and occupied Coast Salish Territories . Vancouver's most vulnerable residents have been hard hit by neoliberal policies and gentrification sweeping through the city and remaking it as an abode for only the hyper-wealthy. The Olympics intensified this process and introduced new measures to criminalize poverty under the guise of nationalism. In writing this poem, I aimed to honour the continuing struggles for sustainable housing by poor residents of the Downtown Eastside, particularly those of indigenous and racialized backgrounds, and groups such as Power of Women, VanAct and Streams of Justice who took leadership in mobilizing community around these critical struggles for survival and dignity.
Originally from Bali, Indonesia, I have resided in Vancouver since 1995 - an alumnus of Voices of Our Nations Summer Writing Workshops for Writers of Colour, and co-founder/member of Press Release collective of movement poets.
