TIRED OF #HOUSTONSTRONG
POEM BY ARIS KIAN
A Houston enthusiast and student of abolitionists currently serving as a 2023-2025 Houston Poet Laureate.
CO-WRITTEN WITH 76 HOUSTONIANS IN RESPONSE TO HURRICANE BERYL 
TIRED[1] OF #HOUSTONSTRONG[2]
the rain came and I couldn’t do shit
about it.[3] streets painted with the brown bayou’s[4]
unrelenting[5] flood—water rising even after the rain
is gone.[6] concrete wet[7] with the resilience[8]
we mucked out after the last storm.
the house is not clean and guests still want to visit:[9]
shingles[10] slung. fences[11] fallen. broken branches
breaking my heart, trees trembling.[12] electrical lines
are the city’s broken veins,[13] and the water waves
on highways.[14] my favorite tree was uprooted[15]
yet I knew not its name: huracán, mazha,[16] fayadan,
what languages we grasp to remember the unspeakable—
we are the caretakers of memory:[17] this season of loss[18]
is not easily forgotten, though archives grow weary[19]
with those washed beneath water. cops brag
about 12-hr shifts but they’re just arresting folks
in 3rd & 5th ward.[20] the rich get richer,
the poor get poorer,[21] the hopeless[22] get unified
through a collective struggle,[23] spilling into
one another like light upon light.[24]
light, what a feeling;[25] the sun shines at random.[26]
isn’t it a contradiction? after the storm, the sun comes out
to greet us, yet the power is out[27]—sweat[28] beads
heavy like fallen limbs.[29] the heat takes
my breath away and not in a fun way.[30] communities[31]
caged in punishment[32] as centerpointless[33]
centers the point of shenanigans,[34] yawning away
our frustration,[35] snailing away as we suffocate.[36]
a mother says she is certain her children will die.
the car is almost out of gas.[37] the predation continues.[38]
mother nature screams, and the suits and ties stuff money
in their ears.[39] space city is screaming[40] too, though our voice
is so polluted it’s mistaken for starlight,[41] shadowed
under a greed so grand, it could only fit in Texas.
people shouldn’t have to die in this heat for Texas
to take it seriously.[42] cities ask, how can this happen
every time[43] in Beyoncé’s[44] hometown? but celebrity
doesn’t stop corruption. crisis is a cash crop,
and capitalism dines on disdained discombobulation.[45]
from far away, no sound but tachycardia-sized
drops of rain filling all the nooks;[46] I love when it rains,
but now it also scares me.[47] I want my home
to be and feel safe,[48] not simply claim to be
the energy capital when they can’t provide it.[49]
all my umbrellas were made in China[50]— our state
outsources its competency and mines our grief,
keeps us powerless, power-less. so, we learn to love
the people, not the city.[51] can’t build a diet off
improper planning and a total disregard[52] of our palate
for improvement. we find no refuge[53] in Atlantis
no matter how often we’re goaded to grow gills.
my Houston: God damn[54] apocalyptic[55] swamp-stuffed city.
You loud,[56]slosh[57]-drunk metropolis I’ve dropped
all my prayers on, time and time again.[58]
Hopelessness[59] sits stagnant[60] in our ditches,
carving craters into the regolith.[61] I won’t complain[62]
of the ways we empty ourselves of this anger—
since the other side of lawlessness is abandonment.[63]
we are no longer knocking, but demanding[64] answers
to this avoidable[65] aftermath. we pool our resources
to protect our people[66] from unnecessary[67] suffering,
from undeserved[68] neglect by a city built on
insurmountable lies.[69] we surrender[70] to no city
but reciprocity,[71] find unity in our struggle.[72]
a people in motion stay in motion, our inertia[73]
influenced by organized movement. Houston, you taught me
who I love, you hungry son[74] of marsh-hearted
homemakers, skyscraping feather-wings falling back
to earth. we’ve run our course with calamity,
have hubris enough to hold it down[75] for each other.
and in the eye’s calm, where chaos finds it sleep,
our Houston hearts beat strong, our spirits deep.[76]
Contributions:
[1] @officialamyfuchs, @christianpperez, @mloops__
[2] @lovebuggs.09
[3] @preech.write.sang
[4] @lucia_urreta_
[5] @cheno_beno
[6] @esmeldzma
[7] @oaisroha
[8] @mahachishtey
[9] @uc.jae
[10] @azariahandersonn
[11] @azariahandersonn
[12] @annaluuna24
[13] @eyesac_saladbar
[14] @hougo.luig
[15] @andiwasjustlike
[16] @_ibrahim_badshah
[17] @oaisroha
[18] @tay_sstyles
[19] @khonsarisaba
[20] @ellipsically
[21] @ellipsically
[22] @madspelzel
[23] @heyveeokay
[24] @hedayakelani
[25] @whereiscarmen
[26] @oaisroha
[27] @vane_vtb
[28] @stephleota, @coleholladay_
[29] @vandigriff
[30] @radiosofrito
[31] @kennedybrookeeee_
[32] @hey_mellyy
[33] @ellipsically, @uc.jae
[34] @author_jljulian
[35] @geekyan_dres
[36] @perraxvida
[37] @cassquatch95
[38] @chiachuks
[39] @moontangdaydream
[40] @eternal_vernal
[41] @duidobi
[42] @eh.ste
[43] @anfgrf
[44] @aleialeialeia
[45] @venus_az_a_boi
[46] @thepoetmendez
[47] @lesork
[48] @moxiedemilo
[49] @lanubeflotante_
[50] @preech.write.sang
[51] @annawithhope
[52] @_.afea._
[53] @quiatian
[54] @lojiowo
[55] @htxnat
[56] @mk_b.html_
[57] @mk_b.html_
[58] @omeronhiatus
[59] @rac.ren.rip
[60] @seekinghumanity
[61] @arianaeslee
[62] @simplyjd
[63] @nicoleeritaa
[64] @strssll
[65] @dawnjmalone
[66] @swuush92
[67] @cheno_beno
[68] @cheno_beno
[69] @lanubeflotante_
[70] @the.consecrated.ima
[71] @seekinghumanity
[72] @hamzaza.a
[73] @usewordsbetter
[74] @fernsehturmoil
[75] @gabrielahtx
[76] @m.bfaruqi