The Slap

After what seemed like the full-on advent of Spring we here in the Northeast were slapped hard by the return of frosty air and wind filled with snow. It was hard to take for sure when it hit us squarely across bared faces. I know I should have not fallen for the tease of ease, but I did, rather like an amateur in this region might have made. Quite similarly, I was swept up in the fanfare and glitter on Oscar night, the easy banter of those witty hosts, the hope that this year a more diverse and promising bank of recipients might hold their trophies high over head in pride. And they did. All of that. But the sting of that slap, that one violent recrimination captured by the ever present Eye, stings just as bad as the Arctic blast battering us back inside our homes. Back to wonder, how did we become a nation where shame is no longer felt when it is clearly earned?

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Howl

Today

war is media filtered and heightened by the bots who channel through our clicks and likes

our preferences bring us straight into the bloody horror of what soldiers can’t erase

we feign surprise that civilian are targets despite the centuries of this standard practice since everyone made this their go-to wartime strategy like Hiroshima like London like…an endless list of those blown apart worlds and people haunt us through nighmares

but cynicism feels rough feels like the howling wind

raw

snowflakes blow about a few feet higher than me and I am transposed to wonder

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Say Gay. Praise Science. Condemn War. Carry on.

Oh my what a week. Not that I’m surprised. I mean, 2022 has been a ton of crazy from the get go. And now, when we look at the hubbub in the south, we wonder, what has Florida done now? A state notable for its high poverty rate, disastrous infrastructure, and abysmal salaries for teachers and all those we praised as essential workers just 24 months ago. Snowbirds flock there on their measly social security or atrocious pensions to eke out their last days with some sunshine and air conditioning just to avoid income tax, (no blame at all– you have all my best hopes for better days and sunsets). Of course I can’t discredit the extraordinary Florida juicy oranges which fuel my soul during the coldest of months AND the most aquamarine ocean this side of the Mediterranean. But politics? Nope. DeSantis is rude, wrong, and just too arrogant for me, from how he talks to teens to what he says about them. Can you disagree? Eye to eye, can you really?

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