The hole that Billy Sothern leaves in my heart, and in the hearts of those that I care most for, is deep and sore. There are no words suitable for the loss of a life such as his. While many have known Billy much longer than I have, my time with him is forever marked by his rigorous commitment to his loved ones, his voracious enthusiasm for the written word, and his dedication to working on behalf of those our legal system labeled as inhuman, unworthy—fodder for the state’s most grotesque impulses and desires. For those reading this post, I encourage you to read about Billy’s life and work, to check out his beautiful book ‘Down in New Orleans,’ and to reach out and give love to those in your life who are doing the hard work of fighting against systems made for the most privileged of us—they need our support, our friendship, our energy, our trust, our networks of care. One of the last conversations I had with Billy was about love, and what kinds of words were suitable for communicating the essence of such transformational feelings. After much back and forth (as was his style), we settled on a number of examples, but the one that stands out to me today is a stanza from Donald Hall: ‘When you fall in love/you jockey your horse/into the flaming barn.’ This is the image I will always conjure when I think of Billy. For more on Billy’s life, see link in bio. *If you are having thoughts of suicide, do not hesitate to reach out to me, call or text 988 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources.*