Pool Parties By day, the pool pampered those who’d never known hunger; who’d been born into privilege and never left it. Cushy connections and nepotism guaranteed unearned wealth with interest and no taxes. Brown servants slathered their pale, never-pinked wrinkled bodies. By night, Gemma, a hood rat, looped surveillance footage with empty glassed blue, while…
The Write Stuff
The Write Stuff Granddaughter writes her nameon library craft box of crayons.It leads to memory-drawn convobetween her mother and I,sharing how our journeys began. Mine that of plastic pen, metal nib,and well of ink, scratches betweenlines of news-stock, bland paper. She, with ball-point on smoothwhite, had trouble with cursivecapitals “G” and “F.” Letters became words;…
“Road Towards Equality” by Paul Collins
Storytime is back at the library for granddaughter. I drove over yesterday to be a part of it. I recognized many familiar faces of parents and kids and new additions to their families from last time, as well as several new families participating. The same librarian leads storytime, and she is wonderful in building enthusiasm…
Rare Earth — Willie Remembers
Some of you may remember me talking about listening to albums at a place I babysat as a teenager. There was one album I remembered the baby face on the cover but couldn’t remember the artist or album. While writing up my Song Lyric Sunday post today, I came across Rare Earth’s cover of (I…
The Oracle Speaks — Born Blue
Born Blue I remember my young self,cool-marbled hard smileof need,growled & devouring;a ghost,a secret seer,a girl of soft red velvet,a poisoned dark cake. Born blue,always listening,less for eternitybut [for] my home. Poet magnet set
#SLS — “(I Know) I’m Losing You” by The Temptations
I did not know who wrote the song, nor who recorded it first, but “(I Know) I’m Losing You” is the song I wanted to share today. Although it doesn’t mention abandoning, departing, deserting, exiting, leaving, resigning, or retiring, you don’t have to reach far to understand that’s what’s going to happen real soon in…
Music that strikes a chord: “Hope is the thing with feathers” by Rhiannon Giddens UPDATE — Democracy Now! video
Rhiannon Giddens has a new album out on Nonesuch Records label called, “Hope is the Thing with Feathers.” Here is the title track. It is not only the music but the video, which shows the artist creating the album cover using multi-media collage, that strikes a chord with me. From the Nonesuch newsletter: Rhiannon Giddens…
