Brilliant prescient writing, for which I am grateful. I do not find it melodramatic. Baldwin said that he admired the bravado of Dickens, and obviously he was inspired by it. I see that same power in this writing, and am thankful for it.
Beautiful, truthful, poetic, clear. Not melodramatic. This is what public-private grief feels like. The teen girls know they come to womanhood in this climate. It needs to be said. Thank you, dear poet.
No melodrama here. The election of Trump and then the appointment of Kavanaugh felt visceral and personal in a way I couldn't explain (and I'm a UK citizen!) so thank you for putting this sensation into words.
Anger has a place, in life and in literature, but it's often 'disappeared', especially in poetry. There's something freeing about the energy and clarity anger can bring.
It’s true! I didn’t really know I was a woman in such a visceral way. Thank you for pointing to it so directly that I could see and feel it. Mi cuerpo es su cuerpo.
Dear Sal, I had to do a google search to be sure I hadn't just imagined it but there they were: several headlines about 10, 12 and 13 year olds being forced to bear children conceived in rape. It would be impossible to be melodramatic, skating on the rim of hell. Tonight I was looking for something else and came across emails between me and Yuuka from 2016 in which she was asking me if I was a woman. This seems to have been before her illness. I promised her I would write about it but I never did. Maybe we had a talk. I watched the election with three women who were sure they were going to end the evening by running into the street celebrating the first woman president. One of them was pregnant and thought it would surely be a girl (it was born as a boy). I was in that demonstration with you, in the picture. I don't know if I am a woman but I know it angers me that I feel unable to fully embrace the joy Walz spoke about and the crowd seemed to embody. I have been burned.
Howard, thank you for this. Our beloved Yuuka had such a beautiful anger and keen attention to injustice. I miss her in so many ways, but one is her amazing capacity to speak up and wake us all up.
I remember marching with you in those days. I still don’t always know what gender I am, but at the same time am female in solidarity. Sending love to you.
Brilliant prescient writing, for which I am grateful. I do not find it melodramatic. Baldwin said that he admired the bravado of Dickens, and obviously he was inspired by it. I see that same power in this writing, and am thankful for it.
Bonnie, thank you! It feels risky to share this, so I am especially appreciative of your support.
I wish only for more writing by you like this. It possesses great insight, and is helpful. It helped me when I first read it and it helps me now.
Wonderful to hear that it feels helpful.
The best art shows what many feel, so that we recognize parts of ourselves and our experiences in it. I have felt what you wrote here.
Thank you, Susanna. I appreciate your feeling with me.
Not melodramatic. Honest. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you, Jiling.
Beautiful, truthful, poetic, clear. Not melodramatic. This is what public-private grief feels like. The teen girls know they come to womanhood in this climate. It needs to be said. Thank you, dear poet.
I’m grateful, Tara. Yes, public-private grief — what a perfect way of putting it.
No melodrama here. The election of Trump and then the appointment of Kavanaugh felt visceral and personal in a way I couldn't explain (and I'm a UK citizen!) so thank you for putting this sensation into words.
Anger has a place, in life and in literature, but it's often 'disappeared', especially in poetry. There's something freeing about the energy and clarity anger can bring.
I did, I do take it personally, yes. Amazing that you can feel it across the ocean. The way Kamala Harris grilled Kavanaugh is also on my mind.
Yes, she was fantastic. Hope we see lots more of that.
Indeed!
It’s true! I didn’t really know I was a woman in such a visceral way. Thank you for pointing to it so directly that I could see and feel it. Mi cuerpo es su cuerpo.
May our collective body expand!
Dear Sal, I had to do a google search to be sure I hadn't just imagined it but there they were: several headlines about 10, 12 and 13 year olds being forced to bear children conceived in rape. It would be impossible to be melodramatic, skating on the rim of hell. Tonight I was looking for something else and came across emails between me and Yuuka from 2016 in which she was asking me if I was a woman. This seems to have been before her illness. I promised her I would write about it but I never did. Maybe we had a talk. I watched the election with three women who were sure they were going to end the evening by running into the street celebrating the first woman president. One of them was pregnant and thought it would surely be a girl (it was born as a boy). I was in that demonstration with you, in the picture. I don't know if I am a woman but I know it angers me that I feel unable to fully embrace the joy Walz spoke about and the crowd seemed to embody. I have been burned.
Howard, thank you for this. Our beloved Yuuka had such a beautiful anger and keen attention to injustice. I miss her in so many ways, but one is her amazing capacity to speak up and wake us all up.
I remember marching with you in those days. I still don’t always know what gender I am, but at the same time am female in solidarity. Sending love to you.