Lost Omni

Does anybody remember that show Voyagers! ...?

Or Quantum Leap?

Both shows portrayed Time

As finite

A modern rendering

Of the Fates' tapestry

Only sometimes

A thread would

Be out of line

Pulled loose

Or broken

And the voyagers--

Phineas Bogg &

Jeffrey Jones--

Would need to 

Weave it back into place

Or Dr. Sam Beckett

Would repair the tapestry

And leap to the next

Tangle 

They put things back

To the Way They Should Be

And I feel like

That there is supposed to be

A Jeffrey Jones

Or Sam Beckett

Or somebody with

A mysteriously impressive

Pocket watch

(or screwdriver)

Fixing things

Somebody with nimble fingers

And a handlink 

Leaping to those spots

Where our leaders failed

Or died

To those places

Where everybody is heartsick

Blind

Battle worn

I am sure

That some of these knots

Are not supposed to be here

Maybe Phineas

Stopped listening to Jeffrey

Because he fell in love

Hard enough 

To let the threads tangle

And break

Maybe Sam really

Did leap home 

Finally.

Maybe he needed Al

In order to see the 

Tapestry

Maybe we need

Our time travelers

To be heartsick

Themselves

Never resolving their pasts

Never correcting mistakes

Maybe we need them

Tangled & broken

With threads pulled loose

Maybe the Fates

Do what they can

Gnarled fingers poking through

Taut, twisted yarn

Maybe dreaming

Of time travelers 

Has ruined us.

We are Time travelers already

Going one way

Going forward

Forgetting the picture

Woven behind us

And no Ziggy

(or doctor)

To put us right.

Tell Me "Merry Christmas"

Let me say,
As we usher in
The holiday season,
That I am totally OK
With the phrase
"Merry Christmas"
And if you want to
Tell me
"Merry Christmas"
As a tiding of goodwill
Then yes, of course
Tell me
"Merry Christmas"
I will likely say
The same exact thing
Back to you
But please, if I slip
And say
"Happy Holidays!"
Or if I greet you first
And I am in a
Groove
And I say to you,
Dear Christmas adherent,
"Happy Holidays!"
Please do not be angry
Please don't assume I'm
Missing the point
When I was young
"Happy Holidays"
Meant "Happy Thanksgiving
After which, I hope
You have a
Merry Christmas,
Followed by a festive
New Year's!"
Truth be told,
It means more
To me now.
It also means
"I don't know exactly what you celebrate
But I hope it is joyful & lovely"
And yes
It also means
"Happy Hanukkah"
And "Happy Solstice"
And other holy observances
That sometimes coincide
With the Christmas season
It applies to atheists
Because they actually
Love their families
And getting a day off
And I want them to
Have a good time
So yeah
"Happy Holidays"
Is a sort of loaded phrase.
I can not speak for everyone
But I know for myself
And the people in my life--
The ones who like
"Happy Holidays"--
This phrase is not loaded
With animosity or contempt
We do not say it
To spite you
And any request
For schools or businesses
Or public figures
To consider
"Happy Holidays"
Or "Season's Greetings"
Is rooted in our love
For each other.
I still have a hard time
Remembering
The holiest days
Of some of my friends
Because, growing up,
My school
My calendar
My neighborhood
Didn't care
Well, I care now
There is nothing wrong
With kindness mixed
With brevity
And what's wrong with being
A little generic--
"Hello, stranger.
I am extending kindness
To you, no matter
Who you are or
How you worship."
What is wrong with that?
I believe you
When you say
That "Merry Christmas"
Means that also
I believe you
When you say
That Christ is
The Reason for the Season
You are celebrating the birth
Of the Savior of the World
So I WANT you
To say, "Merry Christmas!"
I want to hear your joy
Thank you for sharing
Your joy with me
You like saying, "Merry Christmas"
Then say it to me!
Say "Merry Christmas"
Because you love Jesus
Say "Merry Christmas"
Because you grew up saying it
Say "Merry Christmas"
Because "Chriss-Muss"
Is sing-songy and
Fun to say
Merry Christmas!
I trust you.
I trust your goodwill.
This time of year
We are encouraged to
Be kind
So, when I
Or somebody
Shares their joy
And says
"Happy Holidays!"
I hope you trust me.
I hope you trust them.
At the very least
I hope you are kind.
Merry Christmas.

Grateful & Pissed

It will be Thanksgiving in a couple of days

And there have been all kinds of "Be grateful" memes

Ticking past my eyes

Oh, sure

I am grateful

I am grateful for hugs & I love you's

And "All the Things"

I get it.

I know.

I am also grateful that

I am white.

Oh, I deal with 

Misogyny

And homophobia

And classicism

And religious bigotry

All those things suck

Hard

But whew! What a relief

That I am wearing

A potent dose of privilege 

24/7

Thank the fucking gods!

I am grateful

God damn it.

I am grateful.

I am not ashamed.

I don't feel guilty.

I feel pissed off.

Fuck this--

I will not entertain debate on this--

I will not boo hoo about the times

My day sucked a little

Because a brown person 

Was mean to me 

As if that's proof

That "they" don't have it so hard

And just need to behave themselves

And stop making this about race

Because it is about race

Fuck!

It is about race.

Every day.

All the time.

Race.

Race.

Race.

It has never been about just one boy.

One boy is not enough

For us

And oh my gods! I am so lucky--

The times I misbehaved

The times my white friends misbehaved

Fire, fighting, fucking

Mayhem!--

And got away with it

Or didn't

But lived to tell the tale.

I am grateful

People lived 

To tell the tale

But being thankful

Does not change the fact

That too many people

Are dead

Some of us

Will riot about

Football coaches

And Pumpkins

But uncapping Rage

Because of Injustice

Is for "savages".

One circumstance

That can be 

Parlayed into

"He deserved it"

Does not dismantle

The reality

Of why

I feel gratitude.

I will not delude myself

With hypotheticals

That will never

Be tested in court.

I am grateful

And that pisses me off.

That I am just that much

More likely to live

My husband and child

More likely to live

While some people

Are more likely to die

No matter what

More likely to die

What a relief

That I can be this pissed off

And safe