Counterspaces

Artist: Kristen Newton


The Voice of the Mountains 

Hearts pounding
Screams and moans astounding
And all I can see
Are mountains standing still
People tired
Of all the seamless fired
Bullets let out by police
And all I can see
Are mountains standing still

Mass shootings
Have been intruding and producing
The largest amount of deaths
Within our country the U.S
And all I can see
Are mountains standing still

We are scared
To even be dared
That if this continues
Our entire race may disappear
Yet when I look above
All I can see are
Mountains standing still

I pray
Each day
That no family
Has to bare the death
In this humanity
Of losing a loved one
To a broken system
That continues to allow
One kind
With one mind
To shoot at innocent people
As though it is a movie
And we are just waiting for the sequel
To end as we gaze above
The mountains standing still

There are
So many names
Of so many people
That have been taken
Leaving families broken
In pain,
Our hearts hot and burning
With fiery and flames
Yet when I look above
I see the names of those
That mattered
That changed
That created
That gave
Each and everyone a much stronger voice
TO SAY THEIR NAMES
As the mountains stand still




Artist Statement
 A broken heart is used to explain a state of grief or sorrow caused by the loss of a loved one. Over decades and decades, there has been an increase in the number of innocent people being shot in mass shootings. Most of all African American men and women are shot from police brutality. Many of the people who have lost their lives to these seamless crimes go unforgotten. Because mountains can sometimes be overlooked, creating a piece that illustrates these ideas is commemorating and a way to honor those we have lost to violence. Creating mountains filled with names that mattered will ensure that neither the mountains nor names ever go unseen. --Kristen Newton