POP QUIZ:
What are we personally custodians of?
What would planetary, nonbinary citizenship look like?
What if we start by being civil to each other?
Could we agree that we have obligations as well as rights?
Untitled — (Components for Explosive Words)
MixedMedia on Paper
October 2023 — 11” x 14”
Ruth Ann Howden
Haiku from Painting:
Assemble with care
components for explosive
words - use with intent
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Night Heron at dawn on WWII Navy pilings
Course correction:
Human error can
be better than perfection,
creating in delight
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Thank Mother Earth for
stirring life from stardust, for
loving Father Sky
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Mandatory overtime: two haiku required
Overtime has been
my placeholder refining
possibilities
Resist stagnation
change gracefully every day
pivot joyfully
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SNIPPET OF MEMORY:
early childhood book of hen asking for help to plant, tend, harvest, mill the grain, make the bread - no one would help, but when bread was baked they all wanted to eat it.
Did the hen share the bread?
As I recall she did not share, endorsing the concept of ownership/individualism; perhaps setting off an us/hen division with wild conspiracy theories and accusations.
Could the hen have shared what little she had and convinced them that if they all pitch in next season they'll be able to produce enough for everyone?
Alternative scenarios for second year —as another year always appears —if they work together producing great abundance.
And possible outcomes:
>as hen supervises, she determines minimum share for others and claims excess to profit as it was her idea?
>Or after equitable sharing they decide together what to do with excess?
>Do they give extra seeds to neighbors so they could also thrive?
>Or maybe an investment in robots to do the labor (new slave economy - they don't have to be fed or housed, just maintained and stored)?
Greedism or Community? Nothing is that black and white - I want to explore all the amazing and subtle variations possible, all those unique shades of gray that humans can devise.
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Books I Recommend:
Feral Hues by Ellie Irons - this is actually a guide to painting with weeds, a 2023 limited edition. For additional information and resources: https://ellieirons.com/ feralhues
The Bill of Obligations by Richard Haass - subtitled 10 habits of good citizens, also a 2023 publication placing obligations on the same footing as rights as a way to heal our divisions and save our democracy. This is a short, easy read and makes good sense. "for the record, there are no alternative facts, just facts and misstatements."
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett —this should be read along with Thornton Wilder's Our Town. It is a lovely meditation on what matters in life and paying attention to everything including the choices we make.
The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng
my all-time favorite historical fiction set in Malaysia early 20th century.
The Properties of Perpetual Light by Julian Aguon
Poetry and essays—second reading was even better. This is someone I wish to follow both as a poet and an environmentalist/social justice lawyer. He's from Guam and is working to protect the rights of people whose islands are drowning due to the climate crisis.
Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman
- told through short monologues; the spontaneous creation of a community garden and the forms of healing it brings. Gifted to me and such a treat!
Humanly Possible by Sarah Bakewell
Subtitle—700 years of humanist free thinking, inquiry, and hope
A serious read in philosophy, put me to sleep a number of times. I'll share the ending in case you don't get to it:
Happiness is the only good.
The time to be happy is now.
The Place to be happy is here.
The way to be happy is to make others so. Robert G. Ingersoll
Then Bakewell concludes, "It sounds simple; it sounds easy. But it will take all the ingenuity we can muster."
Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver
—her novels are always amazing, don't miss this one
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey
— memoir of a long viral illness. Starts with a compelling prologue on how she contracted a rare virus, then goes into a long meditative essay on solitude
I could go on, but there are way too many great books out there.
I wish for you time to enjoy a good read, and be sure to thank your local librarian!
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It is not antisemitic to critique the state of Israel, to stand up for the rights of over 2 million starving people living in a war zone they can't escape from, almost 7,000 children have been killed - the population of Moloka'i is just over that. (I'm standing in the middle, under the flag, but turned looking at the baby)
