Jordan McClements is a painter and writer from Dover, whose art depicts the overdose/unsheltered crisis. His works are on display at the Dover Art League and at Studio B Milford.
You overdosed. Imagine a clear, open sky, with gray-on-purple accents tinting the pink highlights of white sketches of incoming snow, as Canada geese come into a river to the side of your feet against the open plain. Imagine counting every snowflake’s imprinted burn of memories, which you feel but can’t remember. Today, you turned 31. You outlived most of your idols who overdosed. How does it feel, Dad asks?
I’m grateful but don’t know how to get out of this. I know how, just not how to love myself enough to do something. I’m too static and comfortable. And it has and will lead to my death, and the deaths of many Americans like me.
The politics outside of what you can control are the problem, America. You think you’re an expert on every topic. And you put that energy into your lame form of activism, which means nothing. You’re not fighting for Americans. You’re protesting because it’s a form of acting. I’ve done it. Surprise. I’ve watched how you all act, as if a protest is a stage.
A stage for what?
The people who protest and vote are the same people who neglect the present American reality: the overdose and homelessness crisis. If you’re not a part of the cause, then help by choosing life.
Wake up, America. You can’t have lame politics and be disgusted when your lack of action doesn’t work out, and we all suffer the consequences across our cities, homes and nation. Addiction, overdose and homelessness are issues year-round, and it won’t stop until you stop acting, America.
Admit it. You’d rather protest a cause you know nothing about. You’ll never know all the details. If you did, your symbolic stance or gesture is still a gesture at best. And you’re not going to do anything about the overdose crisis or homelessness crisis. You’ll focus on something else. It’s easy, like driving by the American citizen with the sign.
How do we solve the core of our American identity crisis?
Give homeless and addicted Americans your time and help.
You want to know how we do that, America?
We have to prevent and cure homelessness and overdose numbers together. We’ve got to honor those we’ve lost with our present action to create a future for our children.
You want to solve the high amount of overdoses?
Be a part of and create a world where people don’t need to use drugs. We have to give people our time.
No matter what administration is in power, that Statue of Liberty stands. We are the land of the free and the brave. But we’ve got to keep that title. We’ve got to be brave when it comes to saving life from overdoses and homelessness, America. We’ve been cowards up to this moment.
If we weren’t, we wouldn’t be here.
You know someone who has overdosed or you have lost someone to an overdose. You see homeless and addicted people every day on the way to work. You choose to walk past them. Now, you imagine they are not there. You avoid eye contact. Hold your breath. Hurry your steps. Pass by. You are close to homelessness and addiction, from your peripheral to the side of your rearview, and you choose not to see what’s staring us all down, America. You act like we don’t have a problem or a crisis by your lip service.
We act like homelessness and addiction don’t exist because it’s convenient to do so. We don’t want to believe it’s true because we believe we can’t afford to waste our time. We believe helping other people is a waste of time because we’ve been hurt before, and we’re scared it won’t work, or we will be hurt again. We don’t want to help the person we pass with the sign because, as a nation, we’re split on helping one another. It’s hard for our country to help people when it is split on figuring out who we are.
America, we are in an identity crisis. We can’t figure out who we were in the past and who we’ll be in the future, and we think that creates a present. But it creates a vacuum for empty ideological battles, which don’t change Americans into people looking us in the face and asking us to look in the mirror. Regardless of your politics, America, you’re not looking in the mirror. The mirror is our addiction and our overdose and homelessness crisis. We want the histrionics and games of other forms of politics because we don’t have to put in any effort on a personal level, and we expect nothing better or higher from our politicians.
Look at the ideological games we’ve gotten passed on both sides of the American political spectrum in the last 10 years. But we’ve done nothing for addiction and homelessness. Face it. We only care about homelessness, addiction and overdoses because we can’t look away anymore. And now that we’re slowly accepting that we have neglected these people, we continue the same empty talk and motions and formulas and hope for a miracle that hasn’t happened in the last 10 years. Millions of Americans have died because of our apathy. We haven’t reached out and demanded something higher of ourselves, as individuals and as a nation. America, look in the mirror and see yourself for who we are. We need to change now.
You want to change the overdose and homelessness crisis?
Look in the mirror and hold yourself accountable for your role in it. We didn’t give our time to help our community, and look what we’ve become. A disgrace.
America, people need a reason to pull themselves out of the crisis we’ve ignored. Let’s plant roots that our grandchildren will watch bloom. Now, we need treatment, housing, opportunity and your time, America.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
