Loose Leaf Notes

1. Leave it to a poet to have his last words upon leaving this world be: “My ride showed up.”  John Trudell February 15, 1946 – December 8, 2-15

2. I spent a lot of time listening to the spoken word poetry of Santee Sioux Poet and activist, John Trudell while working in my friend’s bead shop through the ‘90s.  HERE is a performance of his still very relevant poem “Rich Man’s War” from his early ‘90s album AKA Graffitti Man and HERE is his Crazy Horse.

3. I used to have a button pin of the fierce looking Apache “last native warrior” Geronimo that I pinned on myself or somewhere nearby when I felt like I needed protection.  

4. I was very inspired by the poetry that Trudell was posting on Facebook that chronicled his dying process.  One of my favorites is this one: coyote logics:  some now and thens / are spent / facing the consequences / of his luck running out / and then there’s the way / today stares at tomorrow / as though its / looking for a way through / but it seems like tomorrow  / is tired / of dealing with yesterdays.

5. Sometimes, writing a poem is to enter into a magical place from a specific point in time. It’s like taking a subway ride from Quincy into Boston. It has a route, a speed, and a destination. You can go back the next day and take the same ride, but it won’t be the same. The things you saw out the window one day probably won’t be there either.  – From What’s Up With 13 Thursday, January 5th, 2006

6. Good News headlines this week included “Every No Child Left Behind gets left behind” and “Student Succeeds Act vs. No Child Left Behind” in which it was reported that President Obama signed away the 2002 law that gave the government a larger role in classrooms, launching a national system that created unrealistic Standards of Learning (SOLs) and over-testing, and has since proven not to work.

7. And HERE is the lowdown on the results of the Paris Climate Change Conference and what some are calling “One Huge Step for Mankind” and “the greatest single victory since the emergence of the modern environmental movement.”

8. Since attending a day long talk by Michael Meade in 2011, I’ve been waiting to hear what he has to say about Donald Trump running for president, because even back then he was making Trump jokes.  Here’s part of what the Shaman/poet/storyteller, Irish wise guy, mentor to the troubled, author, mythologist, drummer, and scholar of psychology and language had to say in a recent Huffington Post commentary. “The Donald embodies the old French word tromper which means “to mock and demean;” but also “to fabricate, deceive and cheat …  Right now, he may seem to hold the trump card; eventually, most of the Donald’s claims will turn out to be arrogant, short-sighted and simply trumped up.”  – Michael Meade from Donald Trump, the Myth and the Man

9. “I’m in a tornado. Creation!” That’s the words to a song my 5-year-old grandson made up and sang over and over while jumping on the trampoline because he said it made  him keep his balance and not fall, and it worked.

10. There are places of comfort / at the tops of trees / where the tulips turn like bells / but never ring / Where the lost and found mingle / but don’t tell their secrets / They hang like our childhood / just out of reach  – Read, I Look Up, the poem I wrote for my sister who passed away this November in its entirety HERE.

11. Seems I can only poke but never penetrate the mystery of death and my heart’s response to it.

12. Spirit rises. Soul descends. There is an excess of focus on spirit over soul in our culture. Churches are all about going up there, one God, light, male and transcendence. The soul resides in the realm of shadow, water and emotions. It’s authentic, encompasses many ways and is related to what we love. When the soul is engaged there is vitality and what was uncomfortable becomes a non-issue because the soul is dealing with meaningful things.  Comfort doesn’t help the soul grow and can actually get in the way. True wisdom is the unity of spirit and soul, darkness and light.  – from Meeting Michael Meade HERE.

13. Seeing is believing but feeling is the truth. –Thomas Fuller

_______Thirteen Thursday