I found this poem

The weary one, orphan

of the masses, the self,

the crushed one, the one made of concrete,

the one without a country in crowded restaurants,

he who wanted to go far away, always farther away,

didn't know what to do there, whether he wanted

or didn't want to leave or remain on the island,

the hesitant one, the hybrid, entangled in himself,

had no place here: the straight-angled stone,

the infinite look of the granite prism,

the circular solitude all banished him:

he went somewhere else with his sorrows,

he returned to the agony of his native land,

to his indecisions, of winter and summer.

Pablo Neruda

Neruda is one of my favorite poets. Sadly, my Spanish is non-existent, so I've had to rely on translations and hope the translator has been kind and understanding of his words. I saved this poem a while back and today it just seems right to share.

********

As some of you may know from that other social media site I fried my MAC (yes, I spilled a Martini on it!) and have had to use the MITM's MAC when he hasn't needed it. According to our local Apple guys, I really only need an iPad based on how I used my MacBook Pro, so I am in saving my pennies mode. And will, accordingly, be a less than frequent blogger and commenter anywhere. I have to admit, I really don't use my iPhone correctly, so I'm learning just what a marvelous bit of technology it really is! 

**********

Today, like many of my fellow Americans, I am saddened by the actions of "45" (I respect the Office of the President, but not the current occupant, so I will refer to him by his number) and yet, I am not surprised that the man who showed us who he was during the campaign, has followed through with his most despicable campaign promises. He has chosen to use the tools of the con man, the grifter to diminish our country: distract, deceive, divide. I look at the actions being taken in the name of our country and I know that "45" has given voice and action to white supremacists. How many times will we, as a people, have to hear of crimes against Muslims, Jews, Hispanics, Asians, LGBTQ prefaced by "Trump is president now and you need to get out/leave/go back from where you came" before we say ENOUGH? How many women have to stand up, march, rise their fists and voices against the backward and demeaning misogyny of those men who profess to be our political representatives? (Yes, there are women who are supportive of Republican ideology, but their actions are for another post) Tonight it seems that on Monday, Democrats in Congress will demand action. They are a minority, but they have a voice and, it seems, some Republican support and a shared distaste for the anti-American, anti-democratic, anti-human rhetoric being spewed by the current inhabitants of the White House. We shall see.

I am angry, but as Captain Chaos said to me the other day, "...and still I rise...I rise...I rise." 

I began this with poetry and I shall end it with poetry.

o

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise. 

Maya Angelou

This week

I'm not the first, nor will I be the last to acknowledge the fact that this past Monday we, as a country, celebrated the birthday of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and that on Friday, January 20th, we will, as a country, witness the inauguration of his polar opposite as the 45th President of the United States of America.

It is beyond my comprehension that by our unfortunate luck 77 thousand people in a few counties, managed to give the man who will govern our country and be our representative to the world community, the highest office in our country. He did not win the popular vote. The Electoral College did not fulfill its mandate to protect the country from the election of a demagogue, but that's just the way I, along with a few million other Americans, see it. (The article from "The Atlantic" I linked to is a good explanation of the process.)

I don't know what may or may not happen on Friday, other than there will be a transfer of power via the inauguration, and quite a few demonstrations, not only on Friday, but for many days to come, in D.C. and across the country.

I think that I've been sort of floundering since November 8th. Too many people that I know here in my little town have decided that now that their candidate has won they MUST announce their support for him and his agenda. I say this not because they don't have the right to support the candidate of their choice, but because they waited UNTIL he won to make their support public. (I made no bones about my support for Clinton. Did I agree with everything she said? Not always and I was vocal about that, too. Was she my first choice, no, but once she received the nomination, I said "I stand with HER.") For me, the fact that people I know, people I have to interact with in "real time" face to face are comfortable with a man who stands in direct opposition to everything I care about, everything that I AM, are the very same people who want ME, and anyone else who thinks as I do, to "get over it" and "give him a chance" hurts me in ways I can't articulate.

(OK, I can, but that entails a shit ton of swearing! Sorry, Michele, but sometimes, it is FUCKING difficult to go high.)

On that other social media site I posted how I felt:

I am an American and as an American, it is my right and my duty to stand up, speak up, and say NO to anti-democratic, anti-Constitutional, anti-American lies and half-truths. I will NOT calm down. I will NOT be polite. I will NOT be quiet. If this is what you expect of me, WALK AWAY RIGHT NOW because we have nothing, except for possibly our nationality, in common!

As the MITM said when I told him, right before I hit post, "Sometimes we all need an Amen Corner!" Many of you reading this, said "Amen" (metaphorically speaking of course) there, so I know I am not alone and I am not defined by those who disagree with me.

But trust me on this one key thing, I will not roll over just to make life easy for them!

I wrote 2 different drafts and then found out that someone said it so much better

"We have to be the people we want to be – otherwise there is no point. And it's hard, being that person. No doubt. But the things in life most worthwhile usually are.
 If you lay claim to the moral high ground, then you have to hold the moral high ground.
 So, in 2017, let us resolve to be the people we want to be.
Let us stand together against the fall of night.
And let us always remember history is on our side if only we have the fortitude to see it through."

Jim Wright, a writer, essayist, retired military man, husband, father, son, and many other things that have caused me to subscribe to his blog, follow him on twitter and Facebook. (He also knows how to turn a very colorful phrase or two from his years as Navy man!) He is the author of the quote I've shared. 

It's really true about the 2 drafts that are sitting on my desktop. I remembered that only a few days ago, he had written the essay I wanted to write, so go check him out. I have some deleting to do.

Ok, so here, go over to Stonekettle Station read his resolutions for 2017. I don't think it even matters if you're not an American! His essay is about, as he said, being the people we want to be.

Happy New Year!

Flowers from Mr Matrix and super nana, phones calls from the Krewe, lots of FaceTime, cards from friends and family, homemade Amaro cheesecake, and Roll Tide Roll and the Clemson Tigers both won! Yeah, a good end of the year birthday!

Now, we have to focus on making 2017 the best we can or fucking die trying!