Monday 27 February 2017

In between

Vibrations of machinery
Proof of the toil
Of modern-day people
Earning their living in the world
It seeps in through my window
Threatening to move over the sound
Caused by the inhabitants
Of these four walls
I don't know whether that
Would be a good thing or a bad
I'm forever seeking comfort
In a duo of hostile hums
Yet when I expect discord
Affinity somehow awakens



Saturday 25 February 2017

Wild

Finding the footing
Reaching the ride
Life was lots easier
With you by my side

I never know where I might go
And I've spent eons feeling blue
The fitting path seems hard to reach
But it's something I must do

US & Them

I have an inner resistance to writing about the US, because it's already the focus of ongoing, widespread, world-wide attention, but I do think about it, and what's worth thinking about is worth writing down.

Somewhere, I knew the Republicans were going to have to win sometime. I had been omitting coverage of Republicans from my life as much as possible, and, as the opposition, it was easy to cultivate my disdain.

It's still early stages into the train wreck that is the you-know-who presidency. I had been meaning to stop being a regular news customer for a long time, however I was still struggling through those Guardian articles out of some mistaken sense of affinity with the cultural moment. The cultural moment grew from barely tolerable to routinely terrifying, and so I worked out a way to disentangle myself from it. I have a new cultural moment now(!), centred around my local community and circle of international friends.

But I am going to be exposed to the new political landscape whether I like it or not, simply by virtue of moving around in the world. Which brings me to...

The US seems to have led the way in creating a new consciousness of transgender people's worth. While that worth is still under scrutiny, much has changed in the last few years. More people have come out as trans, and the conversation about them and other gender non-conforming people has emboldened me to a) move beyond the only gender identity that I felt was suitable (what I would now call a cis woman), and identify as 'they'. I've even asked my friends to keep in mind that I prefer to think of myself as agender/non-binary, even though I forgive them if they keep referring to me as 'she'; b) open my mind to befriending and dating trans people - this has been the best kind of 'epiphany' to have, because I've met some of the most compassionate and intellectual people I know in the trans community.

So, as we enter a period of backlash against trans people and non-binary folk, I will continue to support our and their rights, and push for more freedom for us all to move in the world. 

Friday 10 February 2017

International weather exchange program

You with your tech
-nicolour cool and
Me with my mind
In fashionable disarray
We see them moving -
Different styles of today
We break new ground, as they
Stay oblivious to our situation.
We rock our own,
And each other's nation!

This is a day for you 
...To dream... to play... to sparkle and glow!
You are right where you need to be
You're more beautiful than you've ever been
And I'll be there for you wherever you go