It is time for bed, It is time for rest. Everything strives south, goes down, lets loose. We all have gone to seed Planting our hopes for next year into their prepared beds No more roses only the ripe hips now Now the feast from the harvest Now the felling, the falling, the cutting of expectation as we curl in tighter as we dig in deeper we hold tightly to ourselves in the wake of the coming winter we long to close our eyes as the sun sets ever lower in the sky
I cannot sleep. Then, I become exhausted and sleep too much. I cannot function well. Day is night, and night is day. I live in opposite world. Thyroid, lymphoma, testosterone, diabetes. Exhaustion. What else can go wrong? What else will go wrong? So damn tired. This is living? I learn that someone I admire has died. Suicide. I seem to be the last to know. I live in a different world. Am I alone? I feel like an alien on a strange planet.
Perfectionist that I am, this headline from The Seattle Times caught my attention. The photograph grabbed me first and then I noticed the error. This is not meant to embarrass or shame anyone. We all make mistakes. Instead, I consider this a lesson in cooperation.
‘Snoqualmie Tunnel is the subject of an eerie reader’s photo’ As this headline is written, the reader, whose name is Nick, is eerie, and he may very well be, but it is the photo in this instance that is eerie. So the headline needs to be rewritten, moving the word eerie. Snoqualmie Tunnel is the subject of a reader’s eerie photo. Nick is no longer eerie. His photo is.
Putting out a newspaper is a monumental task and it takes a group working together to pull it off. Writing is a key component of that effort. That is why there are proofreaders and copy editors and, for writers like you and me, friends willing to help and critique. One of my newest “friends” is an app I recently installed called Grammarly.
It is a terrific tool. It works very much like Microsoft Word, underlining in red words that need help. It helps me a lot in correcting mistakes, and I make plenty. It also has helped me in writing better and in learning the English language more completely. I am a bit better now at commas.
Anyway, for the writers out there, I want to encourage you. That is one of the reasons for this blog. Write something and post it! There are no worries here. There is no judgment. Mistakes are normal. Do not worry about making them. Even the best writers on the planet make mistakes. We want this to be your sandbox, to play and to create as you see fit. I want to read what you write!
I am an Ambidextrous Painter, Scientist, Step-Mother, Lover of Lady’s & their Others. A Whore a Coward, Liar a Judas A Free-dome seeking Teacher of Our collective Futures Made to own Our GrandCestors spaces reinterpretation of Shape, Sound Frequency, re-speculating the birth of WE I am the Word & World created on a stage, page, tone or face Representing, & recreating a state of a Mind, for the race to BE Human. I am Preaching Precious Story’s Mirrors we’re constantly living up to reflecting on, Herstory’s. Infinite iNtelligence too deep to be Respected all to make rhyming come back like when the Last Poets just met When lazy Saturdays meant SMURPH’S Prince had not yet worn their bottomless pants I am UN-comforting white pages turned brilliant With beats on the backs of breakdowns An Ali of mental graphics Shakespeare of word gymnastics To art like butter to fat is No attempt, just doing I.t. ashe
Artist Statement: “In Samuel Corales’ Interactive Creative Writing Class this past quarter, he asked us to list three things that we would take to another planet and three things we would leave on Earth.”
Image courtesy of NASA
I have three Amazon Echo smart devices, and I would take them all with me to another planet. The first thing is a regular Amazon Echo smart speaker. The second thing is an Amazon Echo Show screen. The last thing is my Amazon Fire Smart TV. This is not the 19th century anymore. It’s the 21st century. This new planet is as futuristic as can be. It keeps tabs on everything that goes on on other planets, including Earth. My regular Amazon Echo smart speaker can allow me to listen to all the music and radio stations on Earth. My Amazon Echo Show screen allows me to do that, and watch TV on Amazon Prime Video and IMDB TV as well. My Amazon Fire Smart TV is the same thing, only in magnified form.
I also have a facial hair trimmer, but I would leave that on Earth. My mom used to force me to shave every morning before I went to school. She didn’t want me to look older than I actually was. However, my skin is very sensitive now, and I can grow as full a beard as ever. On this new planet, it will seem like it’s November forever. My point is that looks aren’t everything. Mr. Rogers and Martin Luther King once said that it is nothing specifically immaterial that should drive you to like a person. Rather, it is the content of their character.
CONTENT WARNING: This poem references domestic abuse, family trauma, suicide, and mental health, and may be triggering for some readers.
There’s so much about you that I’ll never know I inherited your bloodline and self-contempt Yet I have so little information on who you really were
I remember your gregarious moods, getting the rest of us to laugh uncontrollably I remember your jazz album collection, from Ella Fitzgerald to Buddy Rich I remember your immersion in wine culture, the small vineyard and air-conditioned cellar
But most of all I remember the terror, violence and humiliation You unleashed on your wife and two small daughters Time has given me perspective, but back then I despised you, hatred consuming the young body I inhabited
When Mom broke the news that your dead body had been found I cried tears for Mom, so in her sobbing, she wouldn’t feel alone But I was glad to see you go
Your memorial service embarrassed me, With your friends and colleagues gushing What a good man you were. I thanked them politely, thinking “If they only knew…”
1978, the year you gave up on life, was a long time ago And now my hazy memories feel incomplete There’s so much about you I’ll never know.
Written by Kristin
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse or suicidal ideation, please check out these resources:
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