Read my poem "Nepal Child Poem 3" in an upcoming anthology, to be released by Agave Noir Press in May 2004. I was trekking in the Himalayas in the land of Buddha (Nepal) and a young monk was freaked out on one of the numerous suspension bridges spanning the river gorges (poor kid that he had to be born in the highest region on the planet with a fear of heights...). He reached his hand to me for help, mid-bridge, and I escorted him over it and back onto land. A holy and high moment. One of many.
My neice, Breanna. Or maybe Audrey Hepburn, were she: still alive, bigger hipped, and more earthy.
I'd like to teach by example, in terms of encouraging others (young women of color, in particular) to love their voices, trust their instincts, and to stop listening to societal put-downs that short-circuit their hopes and dreams.
I have the word, "author". (It seems Classist to me, at the moment. Or maybe it's that "author" conveys---to my mind---a sense of having finished a book and being on a promotional tour or Jay Leno's interview couch, whereas "writer" embodies the active present of seeking truth, researching facts, struggling with the words, and sweating out brilliant paragraphs.) Currently, one of my favorite writers (poetry, short stories), is Sherman Alexie. I reach also for works by integral voices like Bell Hooks, Joy Harjo, Martin Espada, Carolyn Forche, and Chogyam Trungpa in moments when I crave literary bolts of lighting.
It is when a scent or aroma jogs an old memory and triggers a happy reminiscence that it becomes most relevant to me. Coffee, fresh tortillas, and earth when it's newly rain-soaked are generally high on my list at any given moment. The smell of wood-smoke on a soft plaid flannel shirt will always win me over; take note, gentlemen.
I can live without many things. CD and record collections included. I've lost and/or been separated from some dearly-appreciated vinyl disks (LPs, to those who still remember...) such as my Best of Zombies album and my two-record set of songs by Edith Piaf. Today, I appreciate and hold precious my copy of "Caribe Atomico" by los ATERCIOPELADOS and the "Free to Fight" (compete with an informative zine) anti-women's violence music and spoken word anthology.
In Lincoln, Nebraska, I bought THREE different LPs by the jazz innovator Ornette Coleman (born in FW!)---a formidable acquisition in vinyl. And then, now that I'm thinking about it, there's "Money Jungle", a legendary featuring Ellington, Mingus, and Max Roach---which was recorded in the month of my birth. I have at least three CDs by Blonde Redhead, so they must rank high in my life of music appreciation. (They do!)
Lastly, I'll say that I think all of favorite songs and albums as being linked with specific moments in my life. Play "She's Leaving" by The Beatles and I'm a h.s. senior cleaning the bakery section of a Minyard's grocery store on a weeknight, tears streaming down my face as I contemplate what it will mean for me to leave my family as I go off to college.
Community leaders with strong hearts and brilliant minds who have lived by their words and risked personal security and financial stability to manifest their dream of effecting positive change in the world. The ones whose words and actions I follow (via online articles, press interviews, and the like) most closely include: Aung San Suu Kyi (Burma); Vandana Shiva (India); Patrisia Gonzalez (TX and Wisconsin); Millalani Trask (indigenous Hawaii); Starhawk (SF, CA); Arundhati Roy (Indian writer) and my dear friends Lourdes Perez and Annette Darmata (now living in GTO, Mexico).
The one I need to finish writing. And the one that currently comforts me spiritually (like something by Pema Chodrun). I was reading BOMB THE SUBURBS by William Upski Wimsatt (who also wrote NO MORE PRISONS) on a continental flight recently. Though I was enjoying the book immensely, it did not escape me that such a title might be threatening to non-literate, un-hip fellow passengers. I kept the book on my lap, front cover face down.
I think it's a tie: "You are here to love all things. Just love them." --Dalai Lama; "Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul." --Edward Abbey.
Outspoken, unrepentant truth-seeker who loved the fortitude with which life has taken hold of her for the cruelest, most enchanting, delicious and beautiful dance ever danced.