I didn’t have time to do much writing yesterday, so I’m posting a selection of random words now for anyone who wants to use them. I have written a poem, posted below, so those who don’t want to read it yet, please avert your gaze.


In the name of the obscure
We are born unfeathered, blind,
cradled in arms unarmed,
beneath the same skies, trees
and purple sunsets
as the secretive ones.
We grow and walk
these broad lands of roses and thorns,
some tasting apples and honey,
others wary, quick to anger,
carrying thunderbolts in one hand,
a book in the other,
and the fiery rain that falls
reaches into every burrow,
every nest and cradle,
and wrenches the unfeathered
and the blind from unarmed arms
in the name of someone’s father
or prophet or holy ghost,
but not in the name of the fox,
the blackbird, the singing trees,
the purple mountain at sunset,
and not in mine.
All so true, and it seems to be getting worse.
My first attempt was a rant, but then I went straight to the apples and honey that you have, too.
Just now, after I posted mine, I saw there was another shooting at a 4th of July parade near Chicago.
People are still so keen to follow anyone and anything, as long as it tells them they are right.
Yes, the apples stand out. They are wisdom and knowledge, but we prefer our books and bullets.
I saw about the shooting on twitter. Our news had a story about a guy shot dozens of times by cops.
So sad and troubling and maddening. . .
It is. It’s one of the drawbacks of democracy. The vote of the most pig-ignorant and vicious person carries the same weight as the informed person who cares about the people they live with.
So, true. And here the GOP is fixing things so those ignorant, horrible people’s votes are more likely to count.
Keep people ignorant and promise to give them the things you tell them they want. It works every time.
True. 😞
The last verse especially–reminds me of Patti Smith “Jesus died for somebody’s sins but not mine.”
As usual, I’ll see what happens during the week. I am barely functioning today, but did see daughters this morning. (K)
I don’t know the Patti Smith, but I get the drift.
Is there a problem? Good to see daughters. I saw two of mine over the weekend.
I’m just exhausted all the time, hard to focus. Today was particularly lacking in energy. I would say I had long Covid, but I never had Covid. There’s apparently nothing physically wrong except the usual old age things. One of my doctors told me “Everyone feels that way right now” so maybe it’s just a mass malaise.
That exhaustion is something I have too. I’ve had a chronic anemia for so long it feels normal. But, I think your doctor is probably right. You don’t necessarily have to look for a clinical problem to explain it. This world is wearying, lurching from one horror ro another, and for those of us without a generous income to shield us from all the other daily concerns, it’s hard to deal with.
Yes, I think that’s true. The psychic toll is draining. And it’s one thing after another–no recovery time.
The feeling that we’re on the slippery slope gets stronger with every new disaster.
I managed to not sink into despair this time…