Bi-Monthly By Ryan #17

A twice-monthly newsletter by Ryan Jafar Artes

Author

Ryan Artes
April 16, 2025

This image is from a series of photo collages created by Chelsea Henery, using outtakes from my headshot photoshoot with David Gray Wright. I am going to use the series of photo collages as artwork for my next self-published poetry project. I came across this image recently when I was working on said project, which am sharing here, today, with all of you, because of how it accurately represents how I feel at this current moment in time.

Dear Friends,

I am writing to you with a heavy heart and hopeful spirit. Facism has overtaken the United States of America. The time to act is in the past, and the second best time to act is now.

We have been conditioned, educated, and indoctrinated to get in line. We have been trained to listen and not respond. We have been groomed to obey orders without question.

The time has come to disrupt. We all have tools we are already using, which are honed and refined, whether or not we realize we do. I urge you to identify what you have to offer as quickly as possible, and start applying and offering whatever it may be to the active fight against facism— which has not only already arrived, but also been installed.

My tool is my poetry. I woke up yesterday so far away from myself. I knew I had to make my way back as quickly as possible, so I could return to not only myself, but also my poetry.

My poetry leads me to my community. I have exciting announcements and updates about my upcoming offerings I would rather share— all of which I am putting on pause to encourage those of you who are reading this to figure out a way to act. I urge all of you to figure out how you can fight facism, and then do so, with all of your might.

❝

I urge all of you to figure out how you can fight facism, and then do so, with all of your might.

And so, I offer my poetry. My approach is not perfect, and I do not have time to wait for perfection. After calling nearby and far away representatives yesterday, I figured out my way back to writing.

My writing leads me to my answers. I did everything I could to make my way back into the possibility of writing. I joined what has quickly become a favorite workshop in the afternoon.

And then, I wrote. What are you already doing that you can offer to the fight against facism? I am already writing, and so I offer my writing, with hopes I might inspire you to disrupt yourself and do something about facism, even if you do not feel ready to do so.

Community is the answer to facism. If you do not feel the arrival of facism, you are too close to the systems and structures which have facilitated its arrival. I encourage you to step back, look up, get perspective, and take action.

Thank you to my chosen family, community, and friends who helped me through my day yesterday. I have thanked you individually, and here is a small public expression of gratitude for your presence in my life. You teach me the meaning of family.

Love, Ryan <3

In an eventuality

That has become a now

The eventuality of facism, which I presume in this piece, has been my reality for as long as I have been alive and living. However, I am experiencing a larger shift in perspective outside of me than ever before, which I experience as others finally being able to see that which has always been so clear and obvious to me. This feels as refreshing as it does terrifying.

“Pay Attention; Be Astonished; Tell About It” is the piece I wrote yesterday upon returning to a feeling of possibility of being able to write. I can return to writing on my own, and indeed know how to do so. However, I return to writing so much more quickly when I write with/in the context of community.