ABSTRACT

This essay is a meditation on the experiences of an Asylum Project movement workshop in New York City in October 2017. The Asylum Project consists of a range of site-specific explorations of sanctuary, edge space, and communal well-being, infused by crip culture/disability culture values. The essay proceeds through dérives—through city drifting—weaving urban history and personal somatic experiences. Poetry and performance shift into each other as the authors explore time and community together, moving through a cityscape touched by climate change, hurricane memories, and workers’ struggles, trying to stay attuned to the presence of halting steps and painful pasts.