This era in the world is marked by loss. Humankind’s effect on the environment has created an ongoing mass extinction event the scope of which is impossible for us to fully grasp. On top of that, the worldwide effects of COVID-19 have devastated us all. At some moments, it seems that everything and everyone has either been lost already, or is perilously close.
Even with that awareness, the loss of someone close? Someone loved? It’s staggering.
When that person is an artist, the sudden absence hurts even more. It’s hard not to feel sorrow for the work that might have been, the mark it might have made on our hearts. Although of course, of course, everything they did make was a gift. More than we ever could have asked.
Today I mourn the passing of Kamilah Aisha Moon, poet, teacher, lover, sister, and friend. Moon was the author of two poetry collections, both of which you can find at Four Way Books.
I’m no longer content to mourn quietly and privately when we lose our artists, though. Moon has changed that for me.
I’ll be uploading a few more of Moon’s poems over the next few days. A small acknowledgment of what she means, still, to me. And I will probably write something more after that as well.
Rest in Power, Moon. 💜
Laura Swearingen-Steadwell 