Kale and courage in the City of Roses.
In today’s offering I share some thoughts from the heart of where I live – the beautiful city on the rivers that the guy on ‘truth’ social declares to be war-ravaged and overrun by domestic terrorists, in dire need of a full force cleanup. And so, not only has the Iceman Cometh masked and costumed in brutality, but now the National Guard and possibly the full military may be unleashed on our City of Roses. While I’ve never been a big fan of the military itself, I have to admire the response of those hundreds of Top Brass who sat in silence as the Shitshow of the Year unfolded in front of their eyes. So … when they come, if they come, let us not take their bait, but be here, cameras ready & eyes wide open. This is, after all, our home and All of Us are our people. ALL OF US.
My fellow Substacker, Elizabeth Nelson (the 26th Avenue Poet) is not a Portlander, but she certainly has the heart for it … Thank you for this one, Elizabeth. Perfect timing!
SPANISH EXERCISES AS AFFIRMATIONS
Hablamos las mismas lenguas.
Do we, though? I only know one tense so far,
so everything you tell me is a declaration.
I speak; you speak; sometimes te entiendo,
sometimes you nudge me gently in
the language I know best. Lenguas diferentes,
but also, I’m learning, las mismas, the same.Sabemos cantar las mismas canciones.
Oh, please let this be true; sing one of your songs
and believe I will be humming harmony before
you start the second verse. Sí, toco la guitarra
un poco, I can follow your chords, can take
my turn to lead that Dylan song, tú sabes cuál,
the one that crossed the border long ago.Estamos en la misma estación.
A busy station, trains and buses under way
in all directions; here we are together
in the same place in the same moment, making plans.
¿Viajamos a lugares diferentes? Or,
my nearly-stranger dear ones, ¿por qué no
tomamos el mismo tren? Then we can travel
together, cantando, all the songs we know.
I can’t help but wonder what they will do in Portland, all these uniformed people weighed down with heavy boots and big guns. Pick up garbage like they did in DC? Scrub the artwork from the sides of public buildings? Remove the books from our neighborhood Little Free Libraries? Or as The Borowitz Report notes … clean up discarded kale at the Portland Farmer’s Market??
In her column, “The Marginalian,” Maria Popova says this: Every act of communication is an act of tremendous courage in which we give ourselves over to two parallel possibilities: the possibility of planting into another mind a seed sprouted in ours and watching it blossom into a breathtaking flower of mutual understanding; and the possibility of being wholly misunderstood, reduced to a withering weed. Candor and clarity go a long way in fertilizing the soil, but in the end there is always a degree of unpredictability in the climate of communication — even the warmest intention can be met with frost.
I learned a long time ago to Trust the Process” AND to check my “Risk Meter”. Today’s check in gave me permission to share Andy Borowitz’s snark, while recognizing that I was indeed giving myself over to the two parallel possibilities mentioned above. So whether today’s offerings plant a seed or reduce me to a withering weed, here’s what I’ve got.
We lost another of our Great Elder Teachers this week. Here’s something I learned from Jane Goodall, who died at 91 while on a speaking tour.
I guess one can’t spend a lifetime working with Chimpanzees and not have a sense of humor. Maybe you remember Jane’s interview with Ari Melber in 2022 when she compared the behavior of a male chimpanzee with that of the then ex-president’s. “They’re upright, they swagger, they project themselves as really more large and aggressive than they may actually be in order to intimidate their rivals.” Hmmn. Such rascality … and from a Brit.
So let’s back up a little to Saturday afternoon, September 27th … one of those beautiful autumn days … perfect weather for a gathering on the banks of our Willamette River. “There is no insurrection, there is no threat to national security and no need for federal troops in Portland,” Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said at the very beginning of a press conference called just hours after President Trump announced his intent to send US troops to Portland. Later, just before dark, about 100 protesters, including folks from the Portland Peace Team, a variety of religious leaders, and families carrying flowers showed up at the ICE building to march quietly as helicopters and drones flew overhead. Sunday afternoon and evening brought hundreds of more Oregonians from surrounding towns to stand in solidarity with Portlanders. Hopefully, we will continue to show up, to stand together, to sing together, and maybe even to pray together. Who knows where it will take us?
Speaking of non-Portlanders with words of wisdom … here’s one of my favorite guys with a message I found to be, not only incredibly moving, but inspirational. Robert Arnold talks about our Better Angels and reminds us that we’re always balanced between a hug and the edge of a cliff … that America at its best is a roomful of strangers singing together until their voices give out. Click it. I promise you won’t be sorry.
And if it’s a little music you’ve been waiting for … here you go. Brand new to me, it’s Crys Matthews & Heather Mae on The Grassroots Connector.
I could go on & on. We live in challenging times. But I’ll be back soon. Maybe sooner than usual. I hope you’ll be here too. Remember, you’re welcome to subscribe if you’d like to get my offerings in your mailbox hot off the digital press . As Robert reminds us … our allegiance is not to flags, but to each other … one word, one song, one embrace can bring us back from the edge. The truth is … We are better than this. I continue to believe this is true.
With Much Love from the Heart of Portland,
Sulima
Buying me a an occasional coffee helps me keep these stories coming … and gives me one less reason to cross my fingers when my Social Security payment is due!
