Celebrating Our Elders

I’m so glad I took that little break last week ‘cuz things have sure speeded up since then. There was our delightful online Conversation With poet Paulann Petersen, which we recorded and you can watch here, and even as a high school in Nashville banned a student from her own prom because she preferred to wear a pantsuit rather than a dress (no lie!) and while at least eight states introduced legislation to make drag shows illegal, here in Portland, Oregon some 3,000 of us gathered either in person inside and outside the Schnitzer Concert Hall, or on YouTube to Celebrate the Life of the “oldest performing drag queen in the world”, our very own Darcelle XV, who died last month at the age of 92.  AKA Walter Cole, Darcelle was an incredible human being who, for well over 50 years, generously gifted joy, courage, and financial support to thousands in the LGBTQ community, when they needed it most. If you need some inspiration this week, you might want to watch the event here.

But before any of that happened … I had the joy and privilege of giving a shout out to one of Ireland’s brand new medical doctors graduated just last week …  my amazing Irish granddaughter, who knew from very early on what her calling would be. Same smile. Different stethoscope. Congratulations & Much Love to you, Dear Doctor Shauna Moore-Davis!

Sadly, on the same day we got to celebrate (one of my favorites) former US Poet Laureate Ted Kooser’s 84th birthday we also said goodbye to Harry Belafonte, who had graced our world with his presence for 96 years.

And from Spike Lee, “May God Have My Dear Friend Harry Belafonte At A Peaceful Rest. We Are Losing Our Giants Left And Right. We Have To Celebrate Our Elders While They Are With Us.”Spike Lee, who directed Belafonte’s final film, 2018’s BlacKkKlansman.”

And celebrate our elders we did! The inimitable Carol Burnett turned 90 on the very same day that I got to mark my 84th trip around the sun, along with friends who share that same birth date, Annie Vigileos and Raging Granny sister, Alice Shapiro. You might remember Ali from last August when she was featured with Judy Romano in the RG documentary we posted.

And if that’s not quite enough, I couldn’t resist sharing the birthday card that Steph Bairey (my webmaster & dear friend) designed and sent me. FYI that’s Steph and my long-time friend Kay DeLay in the first photo and my daughter Chris and friend Mary in the second. Thank you, Dear Steph, and all of you who remembered me with the kindest of words on this special birthday … being celebrated in part with my Amazon Book Launch of Arms Filled With Bittersweet and its Birthday Special eBook for 84 cents!  What a Wonderful Birthday Week. And may yours (whenever it is) be wonderful too.

Let’s step forward together into the coming week (and whatever it brings) with these words.

The First Green of Spring

by David Budbill

Out walking in the swamp picking cowslip, marsh marigold,
this sweet first green of spring. Now sautéed in a pan melting
to a deeper green than ever they were alive, this green, this life,

harbinger of things to come. Now we sit at the table munching
on this message from the dawn which says we and the world
are alive again today, and this is the world’s birthday. And

even though we know we are growing old, we are dying, we
will never be young again, we also know we’re still right here
now, today, and, my oh my! don’t these greens taste good.

Indeed …  we’re still right here, now, today … together.
And oh my yes! Don’t these greens taste good?

 


We are offering the eBook version (kindle included) of Arms Filled With Bittersweet for just 84 cents!

It would help me a lot if you and others you know would pre-order the book on Amazon, AND it would help even more if those of you who have read it, would be so kind as to leave a brief review between May 19th and May 21st, the official ebook launch date. This is how Amazon knows that people are interested in my book and it keeps them interested in me.

While I will deeply appreciate your kind and thoughtful words, your review doesn’t need to be elaborate. “I liked it!” counts. Please forward this to your friends who might like the book as well!

Published by Sulima Malzin

This 'Aging Rascal & Occasional Writer' invites you to embrace the world through her open window of poetry, art, activism, music, and humor.

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