5/11

today i went to a protest n brooklyn
it was the first one i have attended since the campus uprisings
initially, gathering at the Barclay Center
felt familiar
but when we started marching it changed
there was an urgency...
it wasn't announced
but i knew we were headed to one of the bridges
Manhattan or Brooklyn
we were determined to march in the streets
but the cops wanted us on the sidewalks
they flanked us in the street
with a corrections bus in tow
signalling they were prepared to arrest
it became a cat and mouse game through downtown brooklyn
a circuitous route to a bridge ramp
to get there before the cops could
we made about three attempts
covering 4 miles to get to something about a mile from where we started
there were a few arrests,
violent,
along the way
somehow i had managed to find a friend in the crowd
a bit younger than me,
she was moving quicker
she made it onto the bridge
i got shut out by the police line...