For once, Stark County was not stark
on a protest day: 80 degrees and sunny
for these people who had stood
in driving rain for the First No Kings
while cars shot by, spray in their wakes,
and protestors stood their ground from a hill.
They were lower, behind a curb now,
and the cars were more intentional,
honks in support, the significant finger
for not, and one woman hanging out
her window screaming, “Get out
of my country.”
Even she couldn’t put a damper
on the afternoon. Then a white pick-up
jumped the curb, struck a woman seated
in a chair, and drove off. Reports were
the police were helpful. Reports were
they made snide comments about protests.
She was sent to the hospital. The driver
was located at home, told a reporter:
“You can talk to the police.
They gave me a total thumbs-up.
They told me not to even worry about it.
They said there was nothing really happening.”
The Police Chief says no such convo took place.
Four days later, though, no charges are filed.
The weather has definitely shifted.
Forty degrees and a cold rain this morning.
Stark. East of Darke. South of Erie. West of Painesville.
