A human being is a part of a whole, called by us "Universe," a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest -- a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of person for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. . - Albert Einstein

. 

there's a boy next to a bicycle

standing in the fresh cut grass

of a small front lawn in a small

suburb of identical houses and lawns

his eyes are the color of diamond refracted 

in the sun, underneath his hard exterior, 

he is terrified, alone, afraid he'll always be alone, 

not knowing where or who to go for help

People who fit don’t seek. The seekers are those that don’t fit. - Shannon L. Alder

lost: fragile, frightened, fleetingly present, whisper of someone left behind. a ghost, between bones and muscles and tissues, the connection between body and mind, a spirit, hopes, dreams, fears, echoes, a hall of mirrors turned in on itself, a black hole collapsed, a cup turned inside out and refilled. 

we breathe. we breathe. we breathe. by the light of the sun. we breathe. 

together

 

"What gives me hope is a simple truism. Once we lose hope, we are guaranteed to lose. But if we ignore the odds and fight to create an antiracist world, then we give humanity a chance to one day survive, a chance to live in communion, an chance to be forever free. Ibram X. Kendi How to be an anti-racist

i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i 

am a body of love 

of an envelope of love 

a leaky envelope at times

barely an envelope

yet always there

and i am rebuilding // regaining my form

some letters seal now

automatically

they find auto-adhesive and plenty of room and a soft pocket inside

to nurture love and thoughts and emotions and dreams and pain and heartache and mysteries

and slowly slowly slowly but surely i am sorting these envelopes 

and forgiving the ones that no longer seal or whose contents 

portend to destroy or wallow or seep or shame

and forgiving the ones from whom these envelopes arrived

let me be a secretary for some time. give me a year. give me three. 

i have work to do. 

sleeping while awake

To die to self through self-discipline causes suffering but brings you everlasting life. Don't lend your heart to anything else; all else is borrowed. Your mind, this globe of awareness, is a starry universe. When you push off with your foot, a thousand new roads become clear. - Rumi

this fragility. this whisper of self consciousness is 

the greatest gift i must nurture this blossoming 

of roots, of connection to my 

body but to nurture is not to smolder it is to simply 

be aware of a desire in all things to open 

to the sunlight, to grow and simply 

let them do so on their own.

there's lump in the couch. hi lump

"I had reasoned this out in my mind, there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other." - Harriet Tubman

the world needs poetry now 

more than ever

it needs the ability to notice 

magic in everyday existence 

and to track the inches of progress

the soft, subtle, nearly imperceptible shifts

in the stomach of the world

that suggest that we are headed -- or not 

poetry is a vehicle to celebrate the not knowing

to explore liminal spaces before inches are tallied

because this world. it's a game of inches at best, friends. 

become a curator / connoisseur of the small, the incremental

read poetry. write poetry. join the party.

obsequious pearls of knowledge hidden within oneself

"The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons." Dostoevsky

when i initially checked in with my body, i got only a dial tone. faint, at best. 

in fact, i wasn't sure it was there. if there was a there there. there was no

modulation, no thing to see, necessarily. dear knee cap, how are you 

today? I might ask. In reply. 

Dear other knee cap, how are you?

Dear entire torso, how are you?

Dear any part of my body, say something, please! Let me know you are there. 

And then when I thought about her, my stomach 

bent. faintly. if there can be a faint bending, it found a way.

and when i asked "stomach how are you?" nothing. 

And then I thought when I thought about her, my stomach

bent, again faintly. And when I went to check in

it acted as if it were the child in the back 

of class who threw the paper airplane.

that is when i knew that I had to take this path.