Wintering
Last night we drove on icy roads to Ann Arbor, where Elizabeth and I talked at Cafe Ambrosia. I like her voice, the way she isn't afraid to use it, how she was never taught not to. I like her mother's androgynous gender, her nature-lady spirit. I think she will like B, Elizabeth's new love interest, the way her eyes crinkle when she smiles, how they smile at each other.
I've been careful of my time lately, protective, remembering to surround myself with people who have joy, artists and people who grow things and those who lend me their books. I've been thinking a lot about identities, the places in us that are tangled, or woven maybe, intentionally. I've been writing about whiteness and racism and institutional structures that make speaking hard (or impossible), about the ways that silence is a privilege and sometimes an act of resistance. I've been wearing a lot of layers, intentionally gaining weight for the winter, determined to weather it.
I met a woman whose name is Erin and she has interesting glasses and feminist politics and ideas that jump off the screen. She is a vegan. She is an Aquarian. I've never been friends with one before and maybe this means I'll have to wave my arms a lot, but I'm willing to try.
I'm glad October is over.
Early November snow has sucked the warmth right out of the air and covered the fall colors on the ground. I've been watching my plants out front, unreasonably worried about their survival. They will weather the snow same as they always do. I will remember how to relax.
I've been careful of my time lately, protective, remembering to surround myself with people who have joy, artists and people who grow things and those who lend me their books. I've been thinking a lot about identities, the places in us that are tangled, or woven maybe, intentionally. I've been writing about whiteness and racism and institutional structures that make speaking hard (or impossible), about the ways that silence is a privilege and sometimes an act of resistance. I've been wearing a lot of layers, intentionally gaining weight for the winter, determined to weather it.
I met a woman whose name is Erin and she has interesting glasses and feminist politics and ideas that jump off the screen. She is a vegan. She is an Aquarian. I've never been friends with one before and maybe this means I'll have to wave my arms a lot, but I'm willing to try.
I'm glad October is over.
Early November snow has sucked the warmth right out of the air and covered the fall colors on the ground. I've been watching my plants out front, unreasonably worried about their survival. They will weather the snow same as they always do. I will remember how to relax.