Every Inch of Ground ~ Thursday, January 15, 2026
At Middlebury, She Hoped to Start Fresh. In Trump’s America, It Seemed Impossible.
Lia Smith was a senior at Middlebury College, a transgender woman and, for a time, an athlete on the school’s diving team. But she struggled to feel accepted, and in October, she took her own life.
Lia Smith was a senior at Middlebury College, a transgender woman and, for a time, an athlete on the school’s diving team. But she struggled to feel accepted, and in October, she took her own life.
By Juliet Macur
Juliet Macur reported this story from Middlebury, Vt., and Woodside, Calif., and interviewed more than a dozen people who knew Lia Smith
Jan. 5, 2026
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/us/middlebury-college-trans-student-suicide.html
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It is sad, very sad, so very sad
for people not to see the big picture
yes, not the movies but as life changes
objects and people come and go, the bad
understand nothing but act like they do
as if they were good, and maybe, for sure
really before they made their exchanges
exchanges for power, when they were good
held in check for so many years, they grew
arguably for the worse, who can say
venture into the capital idea
in a world, easy to control, the gray
neutrality of a panacea
given social media, new dead wood
the fact that people move on and let go
how this failure to fight against forces
overwhelmingly unfriendly becomes
ugly and grotesque, the courage to know
given the political climate, change
haunts our memories with nightmares, horses
taught to draw a person into the slums
slums of unhappiness, where the future
obeys certain orders, as to derange
forgotten ideas of power made strong
sad, so very sad, very, very sad
until the light turns green, we face the wrong
indeed, the wrong way, as we face the bad
challenged by what to do, a face unsure
inhibited by public opinion
decide or falter, act without mistake
ethics cannot face the consequences
create a resistance with dominion
as forthright as bold leaders of the past
leave the present to hawks of prey, they take
liberties away and build tall fences
ordinarily, on the fence, we sit
realizing at some point we must cast
the dice on the table, to take a chance
emerge a different person, face our fate
xenophobia reigns supreme, one glance
the wrong direction, we are dead, not great
it is our legacy, seen bit by bit
for whatever reason removed, my bad
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