Karen McGee

This heart fractured and frozen as the ice
outside the window and on the nightly news. Losing power
no longer an idle threat. Then, resistance breathes
new life—neighbor by neighbor they map routes
and deliver food—commoners tenderized
by compassion contrast the cruelty of men wearing stars

on their Nazi-wannabe jackets. L’etoile
du Nord this city—a city forged by cold and ice
on land carved from solid rock and tendered
at the meeting of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers—
a source of power
where the Dakota and Ojibwe took root—
where their remnants of holy defiance resurfaced
with George Floyd’s stolen breath.

Strong and deep, these resisters move with a breadth
of courage that replaces false power with starry
solidarity. Blowing whistles, they stare down the barrels
of the guns of men with roots
so tenuous and weak they are frozen by fear. An icy
defense so fragile they mistake masks and armor for power.
Ha! So easily revealed as weaklings by the tenderness

of Good and Pretti heroes.
Witnesses to the violence show up tender-
hearted and peaceful, offering comfort and space
for the targeted to breathe.
Loving their neighbors regardless of color or creed powers
the truth that we are all stars—
interstellar dust grains fused with ice—
people and planet of a single root.

I resist despair and root
for my fellow citizens as they reveal an army too tender
to withstand freezing temperatures and solid ice.
The courage of the ordinary radiates fire like dragon’s breath
from the city known as the Star
of the North. Their powerful

acts of humanity raised to a contagious power
that unwrings my useless hands and uproots
this mortal to merge with the celestial body of Minneapolis stars
at the most granular level: offering legal tender
and letters of support, waving signs and singing to inspire
a nation to disarm ice.

A city of stars. A people’s power.
A grassroots movement melts ice
and tenders one breath.

Karen McGee writes from Baltimore, Maryland. She is a poet and essayist, and MFA Candidate in Creative Writing & Publishing Arts at the University of Baltimore. Her work has appeared online in The Sunlight Press, Fauxmoir, and Coastal Shelf, and in the poetry anthology, Close Up: Poems on Cancer, Grief, Hope and Healing. She also has a chapbook of poetry, “Prayers of an Ordinary Goddess” and her flash memoir piece, “Golden Joinery” is in the Spring 2026 edition of the literary journal Welter.

This poem appears in Uprooted: Poems of Resistance, Witness, and Survival (The Chaos Section Poetry Project, Fall 2026). We’re sharing each poem from the collection individually over the coming weeks. You can read the full book or download the free PDF here.