Bugs, Books & Beauty : Poetry & Politics (with a nod to Mary Jane & John McCain)

At my hotel window in legal Denver, CO

All things move slowly forward. Meanwhile, time also seems to fold in on itself as I feel my core memories being re-defined by the collective energy of all the other experiences I've stored in my cells--processed and re-processed with each passing era of my short, ancient life.

I can still see a house surrounded by unkempt, but intentionally placed, plants I've chosen to ramble there, good music and sweet smells inside, original art on the walls, smoke and sunlight in the air. Now, I want a covered, heated pool as well and a bog where the frogs, and snails, and salamanders can dwell in peace. This will come One Day.

As I've aged, I've realized that I have been co-dependent as f--k and also that I like a crispness in the air--partly because I look good in stockings and knitted hats but mostly because I like the sensation of walking under cold moonlight and coming home to a living fire. The hearth is the center of desire.

There is more progress for me to make yet--circles to close with grace, new creative empires to seed, improvements to my health, and stability to my wealth--in brief. When it becomes overwhelming, I breathe and remember how much bigger the world is than me and how far it has come in such a short time. As imperfect as our system is, there are persistent reasons to hope. Here are some imperfect, hopeful things happening near me these days.

1. At the Georgia Capitol today, there was a public hearing on allowing in-state cultivation of medical marijuana.

2. In Texas, a jury found a police officer guilty of murder after he shot and killed an innocent black teen. Up to this point, the precedent has been to let the officers go free.

3. In Florida, black progressive underdog candidate Andrew Gillum won the democratic nomination for governor. Meanwhile, in Georgia, Stacey Abrams did the same and also made history as the first black woman in the USA to ever win a major party's nomination.

4. All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 seats in the US Senate will be contested during mid-term elections this year. I am voting on November 6, 2018 to turn congress blue.

Despite the culture of trauma, abuse and misdirected grief which persists in contemporary America (my treasured home, despite its many faults), I see pervasive evidence that destructive generational cycles are also breaking all around me. In his autobiography, the recently deceased senator John McCain wrote:

What an ingrate I would be to curse the fate that concludes the blessed life I've led. I prefer to give thanks for those blessings, and my love to the people who blessed me with theirs. The bell tolls for me. I knew it would. ... I hope those who mourn my passing, and even those who don't, will celebrate as I celebrate a happy life lived in imperfect service to a country made of ideals, whose continued success is the hope of the world. And I wish all of you great adventures, good company, and lives as lucky as mine.

A controversial figure himself, McCain strikes me as having more class and compassion than many. I admire the man, just as I hope for the ultimate demise of the patriarchy which produced the platform from which he grew. Such is the way of things. May there always be more to come. I will continue documenting my journey here as I grow. For now, I'm including a few pics from my landmark trip to Colorado earlier this summer.

Thank you all for showing up and bearing witness to my stories.