Battle Hymn for an Army of Lovers (Crys Matthews)

Demonstrators Hold Reproductive Rights Rallies in South Florida Saturday:  The protests come after a controversial new bill was filed in the Florida state legislature that would make it illegal for a doctor to perform an abortion if there’s a detectable heartbeat

This past Saturday (October 2), Nancy and I attended the March for Reproductive Freedom in Ft. Lauderdale (one of over 600 around the country!); I dumped out my Jar o' Buttons, collected over the last four decades, and affixed the Choice ones to my backpack (photo above), and I posted the following to their Facebook page:

Kudos to Jasmen and Emma, and everyone who volunteered, organized, and showed up! I am 67 years old, in the I Can't Believe I'm Still Protesting This Sh*t demographic. I have attended many local marches over the last four decades, as well as crossed state lines (Washington DC in April 2004!), and I was delightfully impressed yesterday, not only with the turn-out but also the number of *young* women, and many men. This *is* what democracy looks like... ✌

The speakers were motivational (Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and Nikki Fried, among many others), the signs creative (Pumpkin and Spice and Reproductive Rights!), and there were even female internal organs crafted from pool noodles (which I called The Sisterhood of the Traveling Uterus!).

The march, under blue South Florida skies, was powerful as well as joyful; I forgot how good it felt to stop traffic! And those chants: "hey, hey ho ho, Ron DeSantis has to go" and "What do we want? CHOICE! When do we want it? NOW!"

What a fabulous day of empowerment and inspiration. I *am* tired of fighting, but I will continue to until we have Justice and Peace. "Ain’t no power like the power of the people cuz the power of the people don’t stop (Say what!)" indeed... ❤

SONG:  Battle Hymn for an Army of Lovers by Crys Matthews

BOOK:  The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls by Mona Eltahawy

POEM:  Sticky by Kaitlin Shetler

give me the faith 

of a child

where i question everything

and take no shit 

give me the heart 

of a child 

where my passions 

keep me up talking 

way past my bedtime 

i want to be 

earnest 

eager

and electric

exhausting my detractors 

exploding expectations in favor

of my imagination 

i want to be 

brutally honest

and sticky 

unashamed of 

my hobbies

and my body 

let the little children

come with

candor 

and challenge 

and let me follow 

them

give me the faith 

of a child

where if it doesn’t 

make sense

i can just walk away 

and mud doesn’t scare

me

and perfection 

doesn’t chase me

and dreams don’t

defy me

give me the faith

of a child

and let me fight 

monsters 

with just the power

of being 

me

QUOTE:  “And that is how change happens. One gesture. One person. One moment at a time.” ~ Libba Bray

Amendment (Ani DiFranco)

I had such a sweet, thoughtful post scheduled for today... but, in the last 48 hours, I am just more and more pissed off!

F*cking Texas and their f*cking abortion ban (which I now read is also being planned by Florida, Arkansas, and South Dakota).  I may have my head in the sand/been living under a rock, but I'd never before heard of a shadow docket.  I call bullsh*t.

What can we do?  What *are* we going to do?  This is unacceptable.  We worked too hard for Roe v. Wade to see it crumble like the spines of the Republicans who are behind this offensive and oppressive legislation.

“Our strategy should be not only to confront empire, but to lay siege to it. To deprive it of oxygen. To shame it. To mock it. With our art, our music, our literature, our stubbornness, our joy, our brilliance, our sheer relentlessness – and our ability to tell our own stories. Stories that are different from the ones we’re being brainwashed to believe.

The corporate revolution will collapse if we refuse to buy what they are selling – their ideas, their version of history, their wars, their weapons, their notion of inevitability.  Remember this: We be many and they be few. They need us more than we need them. Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.” ~ Arundhati Roy, War Talk

and...

“One by one the women step up

and commit the forbidden act

of biting into patriarchal thought

refuting it, smashing it,

discarding it and beginning again

in the very beginning when women

loved their bodies

named their gods

authored their lives

when women refused to surrender

except to life as it pulsated through them.

Women reminding us

there is nothing wrong

there never has been anything wrong

there never will be anything wrong

with woman.”

~ Patricia Lynn Reilly

It is indeed Feel Good Friday and, as is tradition, five items below of beauty, interest, and humor to brighten/enlighten your day/weekend/week.  Enjoy! 

~ First Look: Paradis Books & Bread, Miami’s Gamechanging Natural Wine Bar and Bookshop:  “It’s all an experiment."

~ A Simple 5-Step Process for Finding Peace in Times of Conflict:  Ever feel like you are living a life of chaos? Are you feeling overwhelmed and frustrated over these crazy past two years? When difficult things happen or conflict arises, it can be hard to feel peace.

~ Inviting Readers to ‘Dig Into the Whole Garden’:  Margaret Roach, a gardening columnist for The Times, wants readers to see planting and landscaping as more than outdoor decorating.

~ Spike Lee, Exultant at the ‘Epicenter’:  The filmmaker’s epic new documentary series, “NYC Epicenters 9/11-2021½,” is an alternately mournful and irreverent tribute to New York.

~ Could you wear a dress for 100 days?  When Emma Beddington took part in a challenge to wear the same dress for 100 days, she wasn’t expecting to feel the positive force of sisterhood alongside a few neat cleaning hacks.

SONG:  Amendment by Ani DiFranco

BOOK: On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint by Maggie Nelson

POEM:  The Nothing by Sarah la Rosa

Dark water

muddy water

groundwater.

Creativity is like this

swirling 

and circling

and thick.

There is no easy, clear flow

of sparkling oceans and singing rivers.

My muse comes to me in the mud--

that sacred mixture

dirt and dark water

that heals blind eyes

and draws toxins

from the skin and deeper organs.

The smell is pungent.

This is the artery of the earth

this is the tar-coloured pitch

that feeds the tributaries

flowing toward La Loba who gathers

to Kali who destroys

to the truths I'd rather avoid

inside of myself

about myself

in spite of myself.

One has no choice

but to face the Great Nothing

if one is to find

the Underneath River.

It is a gift, the nothing.

It empties us utterly

of falsity and the hollow stubbornness

that claims to be abiding strength of spirit

but drains us of genuine courage instead.

And we must be emptied

if we are to be fed the living water of spirit.

And so, what is one to do?

What is the solution

the course of action

while stranded in the desert?

Do you sit and conserve your strength?

praying that you live

through this painful dehydration

of the soul?

No.

Continue on

feel the burning sand 

between your toes

feel yourself melting

and merging

with the Great Nothing.

Sink

below

dunes and heat.

There you will find

a cool, dark place

that smells of ancient rains

collected on the ground

beneath your blistered feet.

The waters rise.

QUOTE(S):  "I write because it makes me feel like someone's listening - or I am finally listening to myself." ~ Unknown

"I have a soft spot for books by tough, radically honest women with an uncommon antenna for magic, language, and landscape." ~ Maggie Nelson