The opposite of poverty isn't wealth; it's justice.
~Bryan Stevenson
Democracy
Tag: social commentary
Obrigada
OBRIGADA
What if the first word we learned
in another language
was not toilet, how much,
or even where, but instead
thank you;
would we see past lines of experience,
the stumbling of innocence,
broken teeth, exquisite eyes,
to each person’s essence,
the miracle of existence,
and be grateful for a form
that could say gracias, dhanyavaad,
tak, xìe xìe, spasibo, danke, shokran?
Thank you to the editors of Marin Poetry Center Anthology VI for first publishing “Obrigada.”
Living on the Streets
LIVING ON THE STREETS I never chose to be here Amid concrete and cheap booze— I’d sooner die but bodies carry on for years. I hear the wailing ricochet of children Held within this hell of rolling veins. No, they never, never chose to be here. Limbs stiffened from cold sidewalks trap me As pustules grow and lice feed on my skin— I’d sooner die but bodies carry on for years. Violence is not televised on streets; instead, it jeers at battered Skulls and broken bones—we’re easy prey for kids. No, I never chose to be here. Whiskey holds back cold and memories that leer of oboe played Amidst the smoke, thighs wrapping mine through dawn. Now, I’d sooner die but bodies carry on for years. With deafened ears and eyes averted, you comment on My stench as you dart into the restaurant; I never chose to be here— I’d sooner die but bodies carry on for years.
Thank you to the editors of Mediphors: A Literary Journal of the Health Professions for first publishing this poem.
To Think
A person doesn't need to go to college to learn facts.
He can get them from books.
The value of a liberal arts college education is that
it trains the mind to think. That's something you
can't learn from textbooks.
If a person (has the) ability,
a college education helps develop it.
Albert Einstein
(from "Einstein: His Life and Times" by Philipp Frank)
Disconnected
Oxfam‘s January 14, 2024 report, Inequality Inc., explores the disparity between the uber-wealthy and the rest of society.
Since 2020, five billion people have become poorer, while the world’s five richest men have more than doubled their fortunes—at a rate of $14 million per hour.
VOTE
This election is not about Harris, Trump or an individual issue. It’s about what the United States of America represents, for us and the world; how it provides for its citizens and the environment; how we care not only for the living and those who have sacrificed for this country, but also for those who will follow, which one could interpret in line with the Native American-Iroquois law: “In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.”
This election is not about the next four years or a party; but instead, whether we choose that “all…are created equal…with certain unalienable rights…life, liberty and… happiness,” not merely as pursuit, but experienced (as described in this Emory U. article), or if we want something different for our nation.
Each vote matters, which is why so many have literally sacrificed or died to protect this right for every eligible citizen.
Believe
Vida
They threw us away
but forgot
we are seeds.
~Clarissa Pinkola Estes' friend~
Grooming?
I used to paint and knit. Now I groom my healthy dog’s fast-growing hair. I trim at least a quarter cup of hair a day yet one would guess since it grows so fast!
So when I saw these short-haired shedding dogs, I laughed aloud that that Ziggy’s uses these images to advertise “GROOMING.”
A bath and maybe a nail trim is nothing in comparison with the hours I spend each week brushing and cutting hair.
Many. Hours.
Even having had large Collies and a Malemute did not prepare me for how time consuming this little 16 lb non-shedder could be. Though non-shed is a misnomer. She sheds, just like a person, very little. And her hair just keeps growing.
It grows thick and fast and doesn’t stop to ensure that her feet retain traction on the ground, but instead her paws mutate into large balls of fur. Without a severe trim at least once a week, her winter-rabbit paws are so slick with hair that she’ll slip and slide as if our floors are ice. Which leads to injury just like when people run on ice with slick bottomed shoes.
In other words, the dogs pictured do not warrant the term “grooming” any more than lounging in a hot tub is like riding a ten foot wave.
Neighbors
When a neighbor wrote this on the sidewalk in 2020, I felt it in grey…
yet, in 2023, I feel the optimism that my neighbor’s color choice conveys. I continue hoping “BETTER” for so many more, in so many more ways that anyone might have imagined three years ago.
Elizabeth Oakley Weaver 