To the city that stole my heart,
It’s only been a few hours since I left
Yet it feels like I’ve been away an age
I’m afraid my memory of you won’t hold for much longer
To the city that stole my heart,
As the bright lights fade into the distance I shiver
I feel cold not surrounded by crowds
The silence is stifling
To the city that stole my heart,
Your looming concrete skylines never fail to steal my breath
I wax poetic at your beauty at every possible moment to people who don’t care
Is it possible to feel more at home here than my own bed?
To the city that stole my heart,
I know how Holiday felt now, Frank too
I quietly hum the lyrics to a Billy Joel song
A piano accompaniment to our love affair
To the city that stole my heart,
They’re trying to turn me against you
I am blinded by optimism, they tell me to move on
Or face the inevitable heartbreak you will deal out
To the city that stole my heart,
Why is it so hard to say goodbye
I’ve been to hell and back in your arms
But this is a one way relationship
To the city that stole my heart
Keep it
I never want it back anyway
Ria
![](https://scontent-atl3-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.2885-15/e35/c0.58.1080.1080a/s150x150/102553196_179608096808939_284574406840022070_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-atl3-1.cdninstagram.com&_nc_cat=111&_nc_ohc=QqdzZhJl8NUAX86BjA9&oh=5acc0d12931f2c2e49e2ce1fb1ba057e&oe=5F3833E3 "So it\'s Friday. How\'re we feeling folks?
Now that many have posted their black square, the blackout hashtags have been and gone, and platitudes and promises have been made that #BlackLivesMatter, I wanted to highlight the passage on the second slide, in which #AudreLorde wrote in 1980
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\\"...Black women and our children know the fabric of our lives is stitched with violence and with hatred, that there is no rest.\\"
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I highlight this passage in particular because it serves as a reminder that even though George Floyd\'s killers have been arrested and charged, WE are not done yet. There is no rest in dismantling white supremacy. It\'s tiring and exhausting, but it\'s absolutely necessary work.
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I wrote a blog post in 2017 called \'Welcome to the resistance: Are you sitting uncomfortably\' as a direct response to the Women\'s March.
I wrote it as a plea to keep sitting with the uncomfortable energy that comes with active allyship, anti-racist work and challenging white supremacy, not just for the march but for the long run. That endurance faltered quickly after the Women\'s March. Many of us fell complacent - myself included.
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We cannot allow that to happen again this time. Because that tiredness, exhaustion and fatigue is something Black and minority ethnic people live with everyday.
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The call to arms remains the same as it did back then. Whatever you do, don’t resolve to stand still on issues.
Embrace being comfortable with being uncomfortable.")
