“E. Palestine Ohio” by Arya F. Jenkins

Arya F. Jenkins is a Colombian-American poet, writer and peace and social justice activist whose poems have appeared in many journals and zines. Her poetry has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and has been widely anthologized. In 2021, her poem “Ruin” was selected as a finalist for the Derick Burleson Poetry Prize by Choeofpleirn Press. She is the author of four poetry chapbooks, a short story collection, Blue Songs in an Open Key (Fomite Press, 2018), and a novel, Punk Disco Bohemian (NineStar Press, 2021). 

Author Foreword:

I live less than 15 miles from the site of the E. Palestine derailment and as an environmental activist, American Red Cross volunteer caseworker and concerned citizen have been closely following the aftermath of this event, and others like it, which have much to teach us about our mistakes as a society and the direction we need to go.

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There’s a thick black plume of toxic smoke

Wending its way somewhere

Black smoke that obfuscates

Confuses like all mistakes

And horrors we would rather set aside

Than understand

They try to unravel what went down

With reassuring words

But can’t undo what’s done

Or cover it up because 

They care more about the price of poison 

Than what it does

This is what happened

This is what we should not have done

This is what we will no longer do

This is what we can do now 

Instead black smoke 

Lies and poison no one can stop

Seeping into our water

Infiltrating our homes

Worrying our skin and bones

It feels like there’s nowhere to go

Like even the air outside 

Has turned against us.