Asa Drake

We remain steadfast in our demands for freedom: We demand the immediate release of those detained. We demand an end to regional ICE activity. We demand human dignity for all people, without exception. We demand the right to offer spiritual care to those detained — because even in confinement, every person deserves compassion, prayer, and presence. God does not bless cages. God does not sanction abductions. God demands freedom.

From a statement from faith leaders at Broadview this morning:

"God does not bless cages. God does not sanction abductions. God demands freedom."

@readalittlepoem.bsky.social has introduced me to so many poems that I love. I'm so glad to see this favorite poem of mine in their rich archive!

“Honestly, it's the wrong year / to write a love poem.”

— Asa Drake (@asaldrake.bsky.social)

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This poem appeared in Sierra Magazine, 2022. Shared here with deep gratitude.

Cover art for Karaoke at the End of the World, a debut poetry collection by Genevieve DeGuzman, out from JackLeg Press in March 2026. Cover is an illustration of a lit stick of dynamite and rays of light emanating around it with frenetic energy. Pink and orange and beige yellow. Pre-order details coming soon.

🚨 📙 My forthcoming book has a cover! I hear dynamite gets lit once you start reading. 🧨

The one-and-only @taylorbyas.bsky.social was my editor and @simonemuenchie.bsky.social brought me into the @jacklegpress.bsky.social fold. ✨

Goes boom on 3.16.2026. More info coming soon!

Thank you for celebrating with me! 🥰💖

Did you hear the news? Contributor @asaldrake.bsky.social’s debut full-length poetry collection MAYBE THE BODY is forthcoming from @tinhouse.bsky.social in 2026!! We're looking forward to the read 🤩

Wait, there's more baseball? I thought this game followed rule of threes. 😭

Write a critical essay with me this Saturday! 🥰

👀Announcing Tin House Jan-July 2026 titles!

Check out our forthcoming books from

@biancatherosestone.bsky.social
@morgantalty.bsky.social
@emilynemens.bsky.social
@asaldrake.bsky.social

+ more in our new catalog!

bit.ly/THJanJuly26C...

Portland ICE facility now.

A watercolor illustration of an axolotl and the American flag in a crowd being teargassed at a Portland ICE protest (based on a photograph by Amanda Moore)

Making little watercolors of happy news images to carry with me. This one's based on a Portland ICE protest photographed by Amanda Moore.

BREAKING: At least 51 Palestinians have been killed across Gaza by Israeli attacks since the ceasefire came into effect less than two weeks ago, medical sources have told Al Jazeera.

🔴 LIVE updates: aje.io/z1q2d3

Los Angeles County declares state of emergency over immigration raids Los Angeles County officials voted on Tuesday to declare a state of emergency over ongoing federal immigration raids.

To be clear:

LA County has declared a state of emergency BECAUSE OF the federal government.

The Feds, LA County is (correctly) saying, have CAUSED the emergency.

This is a striking political moment of internal collapse. Local govts feeling compelled to protect their ppl from … their own govt.

This version is confirmed, by Hoffman Estates police, puncturing the official DHS statement.

At this point, there is a statement from DHS re 🧊 activities in the Chicago area that’s refuted in similar fashion on nearly a daily basis at a minimum over the past week

BREAKING: Israeli forces have shot and killed a Palestinian in the Maen area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according to the Wafa news agency

🔴 LIVE updates: aje.io/n5k3lj

Abolish ICE.

Thank you to Community of Literary Magazines & Presses (CLMP) for including Babaylan in your 2025 reading list! 📚Happy #FilipinoAmericanHistoryMonth, everyone. Find your next read: https://www.clmp.org/news/a-reading-list-for-filipino-american-history-month-2025/

Trump’s new farm rule betrays American workers Last week, the Trump administration pushed through a rule change that went largely unnoticed by the mainstream press. Under the new rules, H-2A workers — the only uncapped guest worker programme in th...

“The rule change amounts to an immediate transfer of income from poor farm workers to the very rich, very large agribusinesses which dominate US farms.“
unherd.com/newsroom/tru...

Gaza Sumud flotilla: How Israel breaks international maritime law The Global Sumud Flotilla says its fleet of over 50 ships has entered the ‘high-risk zone.’

The Global Sumud Flotilla says its fleet of over 50 ships has entered the ‘high-risk zone.’

I have approximately zero following on this app, sharing in the hopes it can get in front of the right person. A man I went to college with’s wife was kidnapped by ICE at a green card hearing, and he’s trying to find a reporter who will speak to him about the situation

Join us — Luisa A. Igloria @thepoetslizard.bsky.social , Michelle Peñaloza, R.A.Villanueva, & @rhonierika.bsky.social — for a virtual reading & conversation, OUR HISTORY BRINGS US HERE * 8:00 ET, Wed Oct 8 * We're
toasting our books published this past year/this year, so RSVP now at aaww.org/events/

For Assata New Brunswick Prison, 1977 In this new picture your smile has been to war you are almost obscured by other faces on the pages those shadows are sisters who have not yet spoken your face is in shadow obscured by the half-dark by the thick bars running across your eyes like sentinels all the baby fat has been burned away like a luxury your body let go reluctantly the corners of your mouth turn down I cannot look into your eyes who are all those others behind you the shadows are growing lighter and more confusing. I dream of your freedom as my victory and the victory of all dark women who forego the vanities of silence who war and weep sometimes against our selves in each other rather than our enemies falsehoods Assata my sister warrior Joan of Arc and Yaa Asantewa embrace at the back of your cell. By Audre Lorde

Assata gesturing and smiling

Assata Shakur exchanged letters with Audre Lorde from prison, and Lorde wrote for her the poem "For Assata":

I dream of your freedom
as my victory
and the victory of all dark women
who forego the vanities of silence

👇Here's the whole poem

1/ I’m Till Eckert, a ProPublica reporter. For the past 2 weeks, I’ve been going to the same NY immigration courthouse.

Nearly every time, I see ICE agents arresting immigrants. Today, a woman was slammed to the ground after begging officials not to take her husband away.

Thread 👇

‘It is a bloodbath’: Australian medic describes situation at Gaza hospital Dr Saya Aziz, working at al-Shifa Hospital, says she has lost count of the number of amputations she has had to perform.

“… When we take them into the [operation] theatre they’re alive, they’re bleeding to death".

Australian Dr Saya Aziz, working at Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital, says she has lost count of how many amputations she has performed aje.io/9v68pu

Sometimes I look up dream interpretations like "finding an axe" to interpret my awake life.

Panic in Gaza City as Israel advances on centre, ‘sandwiching’ population People run for lives from air strikes and explosive-laden ‘robots’, as lifelines collapse in Gaza’s biggest urban centre.

Israel is pushing towards the centre of Gaza City from two directions, 'sandwiching' Palestinians and forcibly displacing them toward the coast in a bid to drive them out of the besieged enclave’s largest urban centre aje.io/e8bfqz

Today is pub day for my third book and debut monograph! This baby has had quite the journey, and I'm so thrilled to see where it lands in the world. Link below for the info - please buy it if you have the means, ask your libraries to stock it if you don't, and ask me to things!

a.co/d/5FmYwYw

Undocumented father killed by ICE agent in Franklin Park shooting had no criminal background, lawyer says The undocumented father shot and killed by an ICE agent in Franklin Park, Illinois, only had a history of minor traffic violations, not a criminal record, according to his attorney.

A mainstream outlet finally does more than repeat the official BS statement from ICE about the shooting of Silvero Villegas-Gonzalez. This man's death should be a national scandal. Grateful for indy journalists who questioned the official narrative that corporate outlets mindlessly echoed last week.