Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Saturday, November 14, 2015
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Meet the Parents
Student event this evening, and the stories they've shared hang around my interactions with their families.
The man with the twinkly eyes lost a child to cancer.
The woman so proud of her daughter's accomplishments is herself a daughter struggling to help her elderly mother stay independent.
So awed by how wonderful and brave people are.
_
The man with the twinkly eyes lost a child to cancer.
The woman so proud of her daughter's accomplishments is herself a daughter struggling to help her elderly mother stay independent.
So awed by how wonderful and brave people are.
_
Monday, November 09, 2015
Sunday, November 08, 2015
Saturday, November 07, 2015
Fairness
At was at the XC Varsity event (filming the Girls' team). I stashed Nu in the UU kitchen, and worked the break room with coffee machine, creamer, and cookies for the homeless 'intake.'
And it was all brave, tidy, and everyone trying to be cheery.
But the family with the backpacks--perhaps the cheeriest of all--was the nub. B joked to the kids that there wasn't room on the bus and they'd be walking; the older one quipped, Again?" They didn't want to play card games but took turns on the phone. Got cookies when mom left the room for a smoke. And I wonder one more time why people like Donald Trump get to have so much cash for their tasteless crap and others don't have enough.
__
And it was all brave, tidy, and everyone trying to be cheery.
But the family with the backpacks--perhaps the cheeriest of all--was the nub. B joked to the kids that there wasn't room on the bus and they'd be walking; the older one quipped, Again?" They didn't want to play card games but took turns on the phone. Got cookies when mom left the room for a smoke. And I wonder one more time why people like Donald Trump get to have so much cash for their tasteless crap and others don't have enough.
__
Friday, November 06, 2015
Frieda
Sometime between ages 16 and 21…
First I fell in love with Ted Hughes. Then I fell in love with Sylvia Plath. Then I hated Ted Hughes, while being mildly annoyed with Sylvia Plath. Then I took to raving against Hughes, and if you mentioned Plath's name would break down in angry tears. Then I pretended neither of them existed while reading their poetry secretly.
If that sounds exhausting,* how much more exhausting to be those intense, talented people, constantly under scrutiny and the pressure to perform.
Love Frieda Hughes' interview in which she talks about her parents. And I've come a long way from being that impressionable and emotional teenager who took everything personally, but still needed to hear this:
"To me, as a child, my father seemed to blame himself for almost everything. It was awful. A child does not want to see their parents suffer. Thousands of people all over the world every day split up, thousands of people have affairs. Not everyone kills themselves."
* Yes, it also sounds nerdy, but everyone knows that already.
_
Thursday, November 05, 2015
Saturday, October 31, 2015
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Saturday, October 10, 2015
Monday, October 05, 2015
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Nu-Sensical
Nu hasn't eaten her lunch--a wedge of Tortilla Española from dinner the day before.
Because: "You didn't pack me a fork!"
But: "I ate everything else! Even the sour cream for the tortilla. Although it wouldn't come out and I had to use my fingers."
It's a good thing then that FB sent me a great memory yesterday.
_
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Monday, September 21, 2015
I forgot...
...I was being filmed for a documentary on rape culture and showed up at work with workout hair and in my non-teaching uniform.
But it was a productive conversation, and I was so outraged by my own talking points that I forgot my customary camera wariness fairly quickly.
_
But it was a productive conversation, and I was so outraged by my own talking points that I forgot my customary camera wariness fairly quickly.
_
Sunday, September 20, 2015
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Friday, September 18, 2015
Up, Up and Away...
This post caught my eye on the sidebar this morning, and I got a little choked up. We don't know where At's friend R is or how he is.
And my own At--the champion of cuddles and calm, sometime spotter of grocery cash, constant companion--is now 16.
Sixteen. Still a champion and companion, but a grown up one. One who has plans to go away for college (no more: 'I'm going to live in the basement'), a critical thinker who questions my social justice outrage (more: 'is that the best way to convince people?'), still somewhat wiser than his years (A lot of: 'Jesus, Mom! I told you not to engage in arguments with hate groups!').
And clearly more comfortable with swearing--and every aspect of himself--every day.
I am so incredibly proud.
And so unready.
_
Thursday, September 17, 2015
And on the Teen Clockmaker...
They never thought he had a bomb- by Andy Illes
I said: it's sad they thought that kid had a bomb.
She said: they didn't think he had a bomb.
I said: yes, they thought he made a bomb and even called the police.
She said: They just wanted to humiliate a little Muslim, African boy. They didn't think he had a bomb.
I said: Don't be a conspiracist. They might be a little prejudiced, but I'm sure they thought he had a bomb.
I said: Don't be a conspiracist. They might be a little prejudiced, but I'm sure they thought he had a bomb.
She said: Ok.
But they didn't evacuate the school, like you do when there's a bomb.
They didn't call a bomb squad - like you do when there's a bomb
They didn't get as far away from him as possible - like you do when there's a bomb.
Then they put him and the clock in an office- not like you do when there's a bomb
Then they waited with him for the police to arrive.
Then they put the clock in the same car as the police.
Then they took pictures of it.
I said: Damn
They never thought he had a bomb.
They never thought he had a bomb.
From here:
_
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Almost...
Pic courtesy J C-D
All I can think of is the poet Kambar
talking about how magnificent
young Rama's shoulders were:
*
"Thol kandar; tholey kandar!"
"Those who saw his shoulders,
saw only his shoulders!"
*
(Those shoulders--so perfect,
no one could look away AND
so broad that they never got around
to completing the act of looking)
_
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Remembering
The way she says, "forever"
makes it sound like a long word.
She's never heard of "never"
it falls behind her mind's hedge
The sun peers into my eyes
today, the way she used to--
Tugging my eyelids open
saying, "you're awake now?"
_
Monday, September 14, 2015
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Friday, September 11, 2015
Hero
Among all the stories circulating around today,
this was the one that made me cry (first).
The story of the last living
And the 2,976 American,
48,644 Afghani,
1,690,930 Iraqi,
3,500 Pakistani,
victims
_
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Ode to August
Memories of mud
of being handled
by sun
Peonies peeling so
dense, opulent,
blushing
Earth unevened by
legions of night
travelers
I rule lying in wait
waiting to be
caught
Until, we ourselves
O love, are unruly
habit
_
of being handled
by sun
Peonies peeling so
dense, opulent,
blushing
Earth unevened by
legions of night
travelers
I rule lying in wait
waiting to be
caught
Until, we ourselves
O love, are unruly
habit
_
Wednesday, September 09, 2015
Some Mornings
The sky is full of faces
we greet them
at breakfast
While the wind fumbles
sighing, tired
at the door
_
we greet them
at breakfast
While the wind fumbles
sighing, tired
at the door
_
Tuesday, September 08, 2015
Monday, September 07, 2015
Illusion
The day may never end
its intimacy with salty
kisses
As if I'm someone else
reading backwards--
breaks
_
its intimacy with salty
kisses
As if I'm someone else
reading backwards--
breaks
_
Saturday, September 05, 2015
Friday, September 04, 2015
Thursday, September 03, 2015
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Saturday, August 29, 2015
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Monday, July 06, 2015
Wednesday, July 01, 2015
Monday, June 29, 2015
Monday, June 22, 2015
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Friday, June 19, 2015
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Sunday, May 24, 2015
Sunday, April 05, 2015
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Monday, March 16, 2015
Sunday, March 15, 2015
No...
This is not a still from A Beautiful Mind.
We painted the kids' closets
with blackboard paint
when we moved in
And Nu loves it.
Clearly.
Clearly.
_
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
One Stew to Carry it all and Cure Us
At's sick… he wanted...
something hot and soothing for dinner.
Behold our soup
with every ingredient known to help colds:
Chicken, mackerel,
ginger root, garlic, tomatoes,
cabbage, broccoli,
black pepper, turmeric,
mint and jalapeños,
sprinkles of salt
Then a bit of limon and C's salsa
from the summer of 2014 for heat.
It's delicious and magical.
__
Monday, March 09, 2015
Monday, March 02, 2015
Compense
Wrestling an ocean of sky
the lyrics of whited valleys,
I crave the salt of the wind
the taste of words whipped
with sea air (hold the snow).
This land calls me by all names
But holds itself cold and aloof
hushing with remembered formality
calculations, welcomes, and reunions.
_
Sunday, March 01, 2015
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Monday, February 23, 2015
Monday, February 09, 2015
Sunday, February 08, 2015
Moment
I've climbed a tree
and I'm talking down
to you.
The moon,
stony-faced, circles the empty basketball net,
is reflected in a crescent of watermelon.
_
Saturday, February 07, 2015
Testing
Their sister
is at retreat/
long camp
(rehab)
Then when
they took tests
to see if they too
were dependent
they found only
two options:
dependent OR
very dependent
__
is at retreat/
long camp
(rehab)
Then when
they took tests
to see if they too
were dependent
they found only
two options:
dependent OR
very dependent
__
Friday, February 06, 2015
On the Night it Comes
You're calm, sleeping
with the lights on
between both parents
growing ghosts
deliciously
for the thrill of it
blankets in a clutch
with a firm hold
of yourself
in the old silence
in the odd silence
lips
are layered
with prayers
in the shadows
just beyond
the frame
of side vision
darkness strays.
It reads you
and then stays
bending
at the waist
from far away
and if it doesn't
come further,
or get too close
you could still love it
_
with the lights on
between both parents
growing ghosts
deliciously
for the thrill of it
blankets in a clutch
with a firm hold
of yourself
in the old silence
in the odd silence
lips
are layered
with prayers
in the shadows
just beyond
the frame
of side vision
darkness strays.
It reads you
and then stays
bending
at the waist
from far away
and if it doesn't
come further,
or get too close
you could still love it
_
Thursday, February 05, 2015
Un-Prayer
these fingers twin
from shaping time
your hair sinuous
works its way alive
this gaze is like god's--
absolutely no concern
marking a jigsaw world
blowing a heady wind
the song rises
but the dance clings
fears and errors tell
warnings and knells
_
from shaping time
your hair sinuous
works its way alive
this gaze is like god's--
absolutely no concern
marking a jigsaw world
blowing a heady wind
the song rises
but the dance clings
fears and errors tell
warnings and knells
_
Wednesday, February 04, 2015
Tuesday, February 03, 2015
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