“Because the counting counts”
(Poem for a friend)
Hey you. Yes, you. Look at this.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.
Yeah, so what?
I said, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11…
And now 12, 13 and 14 as well.
I really don’t know why you are tell me this.
Those numbers are of no concern to me.
Well, let me repeat myself:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14,
I also just mentioned,
But I’ll also now bring 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 and, of course, we definitely shouldn’t forget 23.
23? Really, 23?
Yes, and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22.
No, sorry.
I mean, I understand those numbers,
And, as numbers go, they really shouldn’t be so, but they are. But there is really nothing we can do. Even if was our responsibility, which it isn’t, or within our power, which we dont’ have.
Hang on, for the sake of this child, her family, I did say
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23
(Which you were certainly very perturbed to hear) just a few minutes ago,
And I guess you should really consider 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30 which all could have been prevented back when we were discussing 3 and 4 a few years ago. Of course, #1 was actually when the child was born.
Blank stare.
“Jesus” and “WTF” scribbled in the margins of my notebook.
Of course, if I count backwards from 100,
You know, 99, 98,97, 96, 95, 94, 93 and 92,
You really see where the legal liability and exposure lie for you.
I’m now counting the costs of a discrimination or civil rights suit:
Let me start again: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14…I think we were up to 30, right?
Somehow (I know why),
Somewhere (you knew where all along, just they refused to actually look to where you were pointing),
Things begin to change.
The counting counts.
Even when you think it doesn’t.
Even when you don’t think that you can count that high.
Even when you loose count - the numbers are human constructs but the impact is human felt.
The counting counts because you are doing it.
And lives that are counted,
Not ignored,
Matter.