The Courthouse Emanates Death

Skirmish lines, the Whisk Fern and a civilization sold for parts

I recently spent a few days supporting a friend in court, at the courthouse on Tulane and Broad. While I was generally pretty unhappy to be there, every time I walked by a few scrappy Magnolias beside Blairs Bail Bonds, I had to appreciate these guys making it in this most inhospitable of places. I found comradery in their presence, as I walked by multiple times a day, persisting into a bleak tomorrow. No justice, only concrete.

The moss, whisk ferns, palmettos and magnolias are easily overlooked as you race across the street, trying to stay alive just like they are. The metal cages on wheels fly through a maze of potholes and cones as the city built for their comfort slowly falls into Earth. I have been referring to these slivers of life as “skirmish lines”.

SKIRMISH LINES - In military operations, a skirmish line is a thin, irregular formation that is intended to harass the enemy and take advantage of reduced enemy morale by being more nimble than their regular armies.

I have a hard time seeing the conflict between western civilization and the living world as anything other than a war for life itself. There is a dull roar coming from the west that constantly reduces the conditions favorable to life. This is probably apparent to those who have seen that recent study about coastal land loss, sea level rise and the city of New Orleans in the aptly named journal “Nature Sustainability”. The movement of the Gulf into areas that held rich coastal ecosystems in our memory shows the geographical march of this conflict.

So when I see signs of life in a place that is designed to kill and lock up those who sought some kind of way out of this shit, it feels noteworthy. These skirmishers are the forward detachments, producing spores, seeds and biomass that may make this place livable again.

I’ve been more quiet on here than I’d like. I chafe at the productivist drive to produce content, spinning the wheels of an economy that’s incompatible with Life on Earth. But I also like having a connection to folks on here.

This video is a preface of sorts to a longer project I’m working on, so if this resonates with you, let me know your thoughts in the comments or in DMs.

Good luck out there