Fear - quote

 Boots Cooper (as told by Molly Ivans): 

"There are some things that will scare you so bad, you'll hurt yourself."

The Rev. Angela Herrera asks us: 

"What might be possible if fear wasn't in the driver's seat?"

Poem - Sweeping Up Dust - Philip Hughes-Luing

Everything becomes dust eventually
blows away, even our own, constantly
adrift, traveling over continents
rendering sunsets with colors to inspire
others to feel awe, others who
may or may not talk about us, much
if at all, but who will watch sunset
will feel our fading fire, and connect

Video - Weapon of Choice by Fatboy Slim - Spike Jonze & Christopher Walken

 This is possibly the best thing ever. Why did I not see this before????

Poem - Fannie Lou Hamer by Kamilah Aisha Moon

“I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired!” 

She sat across the desk from me, squirming. 

It was stifling. My suite runs hot 

but most days it is bearable. 

This student has turned in nothing, 

rarely comes to class. When she does, 

her eyes bore into me with a disdain 

born long before either of us. 

 She doesn’t trust anything I say. 

She can’t respect my station, 

the words coming out of these lips, 

this face. My breathing 

is an affront. It’s me, she says. 

I never was this student’s professor— 

her immediate reaction 

seeing me at the smart board. 

But I have a calling to complete 

& she has to finish college, 

return to a town where 

she doesn’t have to look at, 

listen to or respect anyone 

like me—forever tall, large 

& brown in her dagger eyes, 

though it’s clear she looks down 

on me. She can return— 

if not to her hometown, another 

enclave, so many others, where 

she can brush a dog’s golden coat, 

be vegan & call herself 

a good person. 

Are you having difficulty with your other classes? 

No. 

 Go, I say, tenderly. 

Loaded as a cop’s gun, 

she blurts point-blank 

that she’s afraid of me. Twice. 

My soft syllables rattle something 

planted deep, 

so I tell her to go where 

she'd feel more comfortable 

as if she were my niece or 

godchild, even wish her 

a good day. 

If she stays, the ways 

this could backfire! 

 Where is my Kevlar shield 

from her shame? 

There’s no way to tell 

when these breasts will evoke 

solace or terror. I hate 

that she surprises me, that I lull 

myself to think her ilk 

is gone despite knowing 

so much more, and better. 

I can’t proselytize my worth 

all semester, exhaust us 

for the greater good. 

I can’t let her make me 

a monster to myself— 

I’m running out of time & pity 

the extent of her impoverished 

heart. She’s from New 

England, 

I’m from the Mid-South. 

Far from elderly, someone 

just raised her like this 

with love. 

I have essays to grade 

but words warp 

on the white page, dart 

just out of reach. I blink 

two hours away, find it hard 

to lift my legs, my voice, 

my head precious to my parents 

now being held 

in my own hands. 

How did they survive 

so much worse, the millions 

with all of their scars! 

What would these rivers be 

without their weeping, 

these streets without 

their faith & sweat? 

Fannie Lou Hamer 

thundered what they felt, 

we feel, into DNC microphones 

on black and white TV 

years before I was a notion. 

She doesn’t know who 

Fannie Lou Hamer is, 

and never has to.

Wagogo - ABQ songs

• South
• East, reprise
• Water Birds (from album All the Time)

In the Company of Women - January Gill O'Neil (poem)

Make me laugh over coffee, 

make it a double, make it frothy 

so it seethes in our delight. 

Make my cup overflow 

with your small happiness. 

I want to hoot and snort and cackle and chuckle. 

Let your laughter fill me like a bell. 

Let me listen to your ringing and singing 

as Billie Holiday croons above our heads. 

Sorry, the blues are nowhere to be found. 

Not tonight. Not here. 

No makeup. No tears. 

Only contours. Only curves. 

Each sip takes back a pound, 

each dry-roasted swirl takes our soul. 

Can I have a refill, just one more? 

Let the bitterness sink to the bottom of our lives.
Let us take this joy to go.