;

long haired pink (Dianthus crinitus) on Rhodes, the largest island of the dodecanese archipelago. photos by eleftherios katsillis

Tate

i have never been so insulted in all my life i could swallow the seas to wash down all this pride first you run like a fool just to be at my side and now you run like a fool but you just run to hide i can't abide i got my feet on the ground and i don't go to sleep to dream you got your head in the clouds and you're not at all what you seem this mind this body and this voice cannot be stifled by your deviant ways so don't forget what i told you don't come around i got my own hell to raise

[Irish Centre for Poetry Studies]

But, if the industry of the church is what it took to give me bells ringing Sunday mornings, to which crows sometimes rise and deer turn, I’m grateful for a sound that pulls me out of myself, lifts my head toward sun and clouds, into the up and all, the blue, the on and on of it, when I bend the only knee I have to bend, feel happily small, contingent, and held, by what I can’t say, short of everything.

huge shout out to this little kid for writing my favorite poem

Chaka Khan, 1976

Oil on wood

this is the wisdom of bell hooks: daily rituals of meaning and resistance and solidarity are part of slowly building a future where you can make the change you really need. and only alive people can do that. every step you take towards change and power is another step away from death.

there ARE non-ngo locally based grassroots initiatives working to meet those needs however they can, and your small donation goes a lot further with them because they are able to buy food/water/supplies in bulk at a reduced price and reach more people with less money. again I'm not saying people shouldn't fundraise for individuals because these initiatives are so limited and many people cannot access them -- but as an example, the group I fundraise with is currently serving people fleeing north gaza who are starving and have nothing, and when we fundraise enough to do cash aid distribution there's so much need that our partners can only distribute 100-200 per large family. and then I go online and see people who have absolutely no understanding of this context at all exclusively working towards raising tens of thousands for just a few people when evacuations haven't been possible for months. it's good to do whatever you can but please consider how this narrative being reproduced among westerners trying to help that there are no other options has the potential to damage groups working towards equity and wider reach however is still possible

bigger link to get more eyes on it

Louise Glück, from The Wild Iris; “The Wild Iris”

Mark Rothko, address to the Pratt Institute