11/1
Out with the mouth guard.
In with the flipper. If you
don’t know, you’re lucky.
11/2
Silver-haired driver.
“Now see here, Dumbledore!” Ha!
Not Robert Burns then.
Another one:
Catalpa leaves float
and sway on their way from sky
perch to rusty ground.
11/3
Today’s tough topics:
reparations, guilt, fear, shame.
And don’t forget: love.
11/4
A doom loop. App shows
one booking, then the other.
Never together.
11/5
There are those who love
the time change, even stay up
to watch it happen.
11/6
His name was Moses
and he called me ma’am.
Not in Boston now!
11/7
The actual bus
where Rosa Parks sat, displayed
in Montgomery.
11/8
For walking past a
house where a white woman bathed
they strung him up. Dead.
11/9
Storefronts boarded up
with plywood. Abandoned gas
stations. Weeds. Selma.
11/11
If the Black Bayou
could talk, what would it say? “Oh
sleep, sweet Emmett, sleep.”
Wow. So deeply powerful and heavy. A lot to take in and hold and learn about….Your quest for knowledge and betterment is most impressive…the 70 pounds…the state of Selma…the so-called reasons for lynching…what the heck are humans all about anyway?
As always, thank you for sharing and teaching us as you go.
Much love
What makes us human? How can we do better? Good questions.
Catching up here and appreciating the balance of home and history, and how your beautiful writing keeps me pulled in, rather than running away from the horrors of the latter. Also noticing (again) how much we have in common- two grown boys, long relationships with our Ks, love of language, and fake teeth on flippers (I had one from 16 till bridgework at 29 with two teeth on it (there were three, but I was tired of super glueing it back on.)).
Ha! Those commonalities really
line up don’t they? It’s maybe not great to share dentist-anxiety but at least we know we’re not alone in that.
You had a flipper for thirteen years? Good god! I think that merits some sort of award!
Oh, the stories my flipper and I could tell! Neither my parents or K and I could afford the bridgework. Eventually I found a great dentist (who gave a bulk discount) and then totaled our car (not on purpose), and was able to use some of the insurance money to fix my mouth.