I Believe in The Sun...

I look up; the winter sunset is long gone. We watch and wait for the light to return knowing each day a thousand suns are choked out while the breath of humanity thins and rasps along the delicate bones behind our temples. I sit in the dark making candles the size of my fingers twisting wicks out of hair. I try to stay awake for the sunrise and wake to a flat, gray sky.

Fun times, huh? What can I say - there is a LOT of bleakness.  I’m a naturally upbeat, optimistic person with plenty to be grateful for, so I grab at joyful moments where I can: listening to Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite (I was also recently introduced to a fun Klezmer Nutcracker), and the standard Charlie Brown (Vince Guaraldi) Christmas jams. In addition to those classics, I have recently started listening to romance novel audiobooks to boost my general sense of enjoyment. Jasmine Guillory’s ‘The Wedding Date’ made me smile a lot and I’m on to the next book in the series: The Proposal.’

What’s making you smile these days?

Fundraising Success!

As many of you have already heard, funds for my Roots. Wounds. Words. (RWW) Writing Retreat have been secured and paid in full! Oh, the relief! Ohhhh, the gratitude! It’s been a hard month+ and having my tuition funded has been such a hopeful boost. It feels amazing to continue to receive support for my creative work!

I am beyond excited to have the opportunity to work with some incredible artists during RWW, including the poet Paul Tran, author of ‘All the Flowers Kneeling.’ I watched their short video explaining how poetry works and Y’ALL! I nearly did a praise dance - the connections and revelations of architecture of language…! Loved it! If you are a fan of reading or writing poetry, it is 13 minutes very well spent!

I’m IN! Anaphora Publishing Program 2024!

Y’all, have I mentioned that I am awash in blessings and sailing on a vessel of gratitude? <Raises arms and exclaims with joy> I have been selected to join the Anaphora Publishing Program 2024 cohort! Some of you may remember that I was a part of the Anaphora Summer Residency a few months ago; the Publishing Program is a year-long cohort that provides master classes, one-on-one support, a pitching conference and more - all toward realizing our goals toward publishing a book. I am honored and so damn excited to have this incredible opportunity to bring me that much closer to making my book a reality!

Solidarity Moves

“What do you belong to?” This question came up during a conversation I was part of today, and I think it’s an important reflection for difficult times. I think that we are supposed to belong to each other. I belong to my family. I belong to this earth and all the lands and waters that weave the map/story of where my people have been. I belong to the possibilities growing in those spaces.

Since calls began for a lasting ceasefire in Gaza, I have been doing what I can to advance the message of saving lives and elevate the stories of people harmed by this very public, deeply cruel violence. I am leaning into my role as a cultural worker and creative witness: Create well-fitting garments for the naked truth.

Exhibit B of the Guild Literary Complex created a rich space for witness and solidarity last week during Poets for Palestine (which sadly happened immediately after poet, scholar, activist and educator Rafaat Alareer and his family members were killed in an Israeli airstrike; we and got to hear tributes from his friends and co-strugglers that evening). The organizers impressively pulled together writers and venue - the very cool Co-Prosperity Sphere - into a fundraiser for Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. The featured artists, primarily Palestinian and/or Muslim, told stories, sang, shared poetry and immersed us in the saturated essence of humanity. Not a cruel word spoken, just love, powerful connection and bittersweet camaraderie. These are the moments that remind us how we are human. I need these reminders in such cruel times.

On the Poets for Palestine stage, the powerful poet, Faylita Hicks (see video reel below) reminded us: “Flowers are blooming in Antarctica.” With the community we build and the connections we cultivate in solidarity, we are doing what has never been done, and we persevere to make change: keep hoping; keep going.

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First Draft: Mini-Manuscript!

Beaming with pride since I submitted an early version of a manuscript which will be discussed during RWW writing retreat: This feels wonderful! There is something so special about the moment when the months of study and preparation and writing culminate into its first coherent, material body. For now, the work is enough for a chapbook.

What I’ve been reading:

Let This Radicalize You (Hayes, Kaba)

The New Saints (Owens)

Shifting Currents (Carr)

The Wedding Date (Guillory)

Plans for This Season of Watching and Waiting…

What’s on the horizon in the coming winter weeks? Conversations, connection, and intimacy. During the cold season, I am mostly a seed in the ground, but I do have a couple of appearances in the works - I’ll let you know when the ink is dry. Until then, the plan is to focus on reading and writing into the solstice.

Stay warm and keep telling the truth, friends. Keep believing in the sun, even when it’s not shining.

In solidarity and gratitude,

A

When I was heavily involved in choral singing, I had the opportunity to sing the song from the video above in a choir led by Mark Miller, who arranged this song. It was one of the most moving experiences I’ve ever had making music. I used to sing it to my son, and often sing this song to myself to remind myself how to feel when witnessing cruelty threatens to numb me away from my humanity. Asé.

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