A Poem for America

When do you reject the child?When she is born, her dark hair spiralingFirst cries brimming out into a hazy, too-bright roomOr when she is messy with her mourningIn a body that’s no longer hersCrippled in the hands of someone that she thought she loved. When do you reject the child?When she is knocking at your …

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Feeling Blue[berries]

At the grocery store this week, a woman dropped a box of blueberries.  They went everywhere.  She was too old to pick them up, and people up and down the aisles just stopped and stared.  I just stopped and stared.  Her trembling voice, shouting “Cleanup—I need a cleanup!”  Embarrassed.  Close to tears.  Fucking blueberries.  All …

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Thinking of You

The only thing I couldn’t leave New York without seeing was the World Trade Center Memorial.  It’s worth the trip, for that alone.  Never have I felt such heartache as I did in that moment.  The grief living in those gaping holes is profound.  It’s staggering.  It will bring you to your knees. It did …

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The Politics of Kneeling

I'm going to do this.  God help me, I'm going to make a political post on my non political blog. And I may regret doing this tomorrow, because I already know it's going to prickle at the skin of many people that I know.  But whatever, Neimöller has long taught me otherwise.   That, and, the …

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Idolatrizing the Confederacy

I went to Georgia last January. I had read a book and become inspired and flown away to a land of history and richness and cultural pride. My God it was a beautiful place to be. Before leaving Atlanta for Savannah, I went to the MLK museum. I saw the sad little row of houses …

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Postscript

There’s a lot of beauty in the world. I forget that. A lot.  As in pretty much every damned day. And there’s a lot of love in the kindness of strangers. I think that’s something worth celebrating. Everywhere I’ve travelled, I’ve met people with whom I’ve exchanged a piece of myself. It’s a little tradeoff, …

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A White Man’s World

On April 29th, 1992, a Ventura County judge acquitted four LAPD officers of beating Rodney King. Reasonable force. More than 50 swings of a baton (a baton is made from wood, plastic, rubber, or metal; they function well in regards to breaking windows to rescue victims in driving cars or blazing buildings--imagine that force). Batons …

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