Evening Landscape with Rising Moon by Vincent Van Gogh
Looking too closely
It’s perhaps a confusing image
Thick, colorful brush strokes
Rising moon that looks like it’s harvest time
Pull back
Everything looks perfect from far away
The Postal Service was a band that filled the soundtrack
Of my masters degree in Muncie, Indiana
That was the last time I lived anywhere
With fields that wide
Or skies clear enough to see the moon so clearly
From Such Great Heights by The Postal Service
Polly Pandemic
I can only see half her face
She’s wearing a mask
it’s to protect her
supposedly from the virus
but it’s to protect her from everything
Her eyes look clear and focused
but she hasn’t quite figured out
the zoom yet
She wants to connect
she says
just as the Wi-Fi disconnects
It’s popular to say we’re sick of lockdown
But if she had it her way
she’s stay behind
closed doors
drawn shades
the computer screen
the mask
she’d stay away
The Empathy of Six
Today the Los Angeles Unified School District
made it official that schools can celebrate pride
Days before, the President of the Temecula School Board
asked, “Why even mention a pedophile?”
referring to Harvey Milk
Gavin Newsome tweeted in response,
“An offensive statement
from an ignorant person.”
This only the latest from the same school board
who previously voted to ban Critical Race Theory
Banning topics in school
only perpetuates a lack of empathy
a lack of knowledge
Only days before, a non-binary friend of mine
was told that they would not be allowed
to include their pronouns in a bio
to accompany creative writing in a literary magazine
the debate between acknowledgement and erasure
of historically marginalized people
sadly continues
My husband and I chat in disbelief
of all the happenings
our six-year-old daughter looks at us, stunned
“But people are gay and they should be able to talk about it!”
My husband turns to her
“Do you think people should be able
to talk about their race, too?”
“Of course! Everybody’s different!”
Our little one is wiser
than some of our leaders
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