I have some art on display at John Early Museum Middle School and it’ll will be there for the next few weeks. I was invited to contribute to the show by its curator, Dr. Megan Jordan. I’m very honored to have some pieces of physical art be a contribution to the story that Urban Green Lab is helping the community tell about the intersection between those living home free (some by choice some by circumstance) and climate change.
The pieces on display will eventually make their way over the next year through exhibitions at TSU, Vanderbilt, and the Frist.
Visiting the exhibit right now at John Early is a little hit-and-miss given that its an actual working MNPS school, but a few of us are going for a visit on Friday July 11, 2025 at 1 pm CT for an hour or so. Come by if you can make it! 1000 Cass St, Nashville, TN 37208.
The exhibit features art by many people in additional to Dr. Meg and me, including participants from Recycle Reinvest. Much of the exhibit is built around interviews and photos with our friends who’ve spent time living without homes. If you were familiar with the personalities of Old Tent City, you’ll see some familiar faces, like Mama V.
Here are the pieces I made from objects found on-site at Old Tent City. The piece under glass is a tent that was abandoned which I salvaged and inscribed with Matthew (5:3-12), The Beatitudes, in Ancient Greek.
The other piece is a “birthday cake” celebrating Old Tent City’s 40 year history in Nashville. The icing tells the story of Old Tent City in a nutshell. “HERE TOO LONG / GONE TOO SOON.” It’s made from a sleeping bag, jeans, and a jacket that were left there after Metro closed the site, as well as a steel sign of undisclosed provenance.
I also wrote a poem for the exhibit called “Time is the whip we hold”. Really tried to reign in my word count.
I thought that today, on the 248th birthday of our Republic, this great experiment in self-rule that’s rending at the seams, being pulled forward by some strange force, rushing towards… something faster and faster every day, would be as good a day as any to share it with you.
Time is the whip we hold
Time is the whip we hold
To lash you unhoused poor,
And break apart your
Solidarity while we
Debate the ROI of
PSH vs S+C.
You must be patient,
You must stay kind.
The infinite violations
Of your autonomy
Compressed into a set
Of dropdown lists and text
In boxes set at max
One thousand characters
Of pain.
And then you wait. And wait.
And just when you’re resigned
To give all up on
Philanthropic ends
To stop the heat death
Of your hope and faith,
Salvation – A success!
A gap! A crack to slide
Your Soul into. A room
Or job or rent
Is set aside for you.
But first – more wait.
And nine times out of ten
The other shoe of
Damocles – it drops,
And you begin again,
To wait.
But suddenly: complaint
Is made. Your flesh exists
Inside enclosuréd space
Where it does not belong.
And rigid time: it dilates.
Event horizons of
Black holes don’t hold
A candle to the light-
Absorbing, all engulfing
Rush that comes from
NIMBYistic rage
At your audacity to sleep
Outdoors, per chance
To dream of other ways
To live.
Now, now, now all
Haste is made to quick
You from this soil. Not to
A place to own or stay
Extended time, just far, far
From here. For now there’s
Parks to build and stories
To sell that you’re
A living refutation of.
And that’s a fact check we can’t
Afford to cash right now.
The time is now for you
To make free choice: and leave.
Or else, of course you will,
Do time.
⌛ 🇺🇸