First we pick out a record,
let the needle fall
the scratchy dissonance
of acoustic guitar
the cold of the glass in hand.
We talk about it,
but not for long.
We joke about camps
and being rounded up
except then we aren’t joking
until someone says
Enough.
Not here.
Not tonight.
And we go back to the art we love
the books, the movies,
the plans for the nights in the city
the life we’ve always lived
the one we hold like a dandelion puff
balanced on the edge of our finger
no longer breathing just to keep it
please let us keep it
keep it in this bunker
amidst these orange walls
and our bookshelves
and the whisper of violin
against the rain that hits the window
tapping out the a message
telling us
to stay inside,
stay inside
it’s not safe out here anymore.
-- Ally Malinenko
Happy International Women's Day. For all of you out there striking....GO FOR IT.
While today is International Women's Day today is also the 43rd birthday of poet
Kristofer Collins, one of my oldest and dearest friends. Every year on WineDrunk
(when I'm sober enough to remember), I give tribute to Kris. So today you all are
getting a double dose of poetry from two of my favorites. You've already read
Ally Malinenko.....now, here's one from the Birthday boy himself.
Roots
Hatred is common as Coors Light and The Eagles' Greatest Hits
go digging through some stranger's drawers and what have we here
these petty horrors are an easy map straight to your national heart
so forgive the mendacity but I prefer the deckled edge of America
where sure you can cut yourself but everyone there still bleeds red
whether they speak your language or not
they still make children the same way and oh daddy ain't that something
watching two men kiss on the street I feel safe for once and happy
hallelujah she loves her who loves her back and so on and so on
why isn't love as loved as a hall of mirrors
or a carousel where all the horses just want to kiss you
and tell you how wonderful you are between bites of hay
why am I so sorry every day when I switch on the news
and the world I know when I look at my friends is nowhere to be seen
why do I bother because you are here and you root me
to this place same as any other green thing desperate for light and air
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