Micah Ruelle
Image by George Becker on Pexels
Micah Ruelle is a queer Midwestern poet residing in Minneapolis. Her chapbook, Failure to Merge, was published in 2019. They were recently selected by Kaveh Akbar for the Best New Poets Anthology 2021.
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Complex
For Botham Jean
When I started a job at a 500 unit apartment complex
just outside of Minneapolis, I was afraid.
I had to carry so many keys. It would be so easy
to make mistakes — especially during a full renovation.
But as I walked the halls, I could imagine
opening the wrong door — apologetically bumbling,
“Sorry, I thought it was a ‘7’ and not a ‘1’ on this note.”
That’s how a technical mistake should end: with apology,
with “I’m so sorry — my mistake —please enjoy your afternoon.”
But I could not imagine opening the wrong door
and taking a life. But a white woman with a badge
had just been convicted and charged of this very thing.
And I could not stop thinking of Botham Jean
as I saw the children outside the complex
waiting for the bus every morning, often in the snow,
some I knew by name. I wondered how many mothers
in our building were scared for their children out there —
not just the temp and windchill, but the blinding white.
