Our Poem

We wrote this poem together to celebrate our intersectionality. Everyone in our group contributed a line or two. It's inspired by a poem titled "Where I'm From," by George Ella Lyon-- we followed the same structure to share with each other something about the places, families, and contexts that each of us comes from. I am honored to transcribe it here:


Where We're From

We are from unconditional love and warm food,
From misplaced perceptions and clickers, not TV remotes.
We are from catching fireflies on summer nights and climbing mountains in the winter,
county fairs and the Cape Cod Bay,
From a home with dogs and Harry Potter books.

We are from basketball and twisted fingers, where doubts of survival always linger.
From the sauce you made for me in the kitchen that I now make for you.

We are from spontaneous adventures with no plans planned,
honeysuckles in the backyard leading to woods with no one to supervise.
From the land of arenas and stench, and the land of digital fantasies that linger in my mind.

From the shining city on the hill, lucky for loans and copays for pills.
From a capital without money, food paid with a plastic card;
used clothes from strangers and borrowed book with faded pages.
From scraped sticky sap palms and "take care of your brother."

In these yellow chairs, we're all one.
We all care because we're one.

Metanoia Event Planning (3/2/18)

Back in The Day

Back in The Day

Kids these days just aren’t the same

Why back in the day you worked hard and got paid

Except Sunday ‘cause that’s the Lord’s day don’t be late

For Church, now shut up and pray

Participate. Fine. But you don’t get a trophy

Everyone’s not a winner that’s for the best only

And diversity’s so great? Where’s that data, show me

[Now Insert something racist and/or homophobic]

This safe space culture this liberal agenda

It turned my niece gay now I gotta unfriend her

Before I get on facebook and lose my temper

Cause you snowflakes won’t shut up about gender

And sex and identity they’re all the same

It’s the Natural Law, always been that way

But you can still be saved! You don’t have to be gay!

There’s conversion therapy, plus you can pray it away!

Back in the day, we didn’t talk about race

Now its social justice all in my face

But all lives matter and hey by the way

The anthem is playing stand up, know your place

You had your president so what are you crying about

You can’t say I’m racist, we already tried him out

Now Donald Trump’s gotta put all of his fires out

And hopefully stop the American dream dying out

Back in the day it was simpler then

There’s violence on both sides, so please tell me when

You’ll stop this millennial song and dance

And start making America great again

Back in the day.

…………………….

Now I have a couple questions.

So back in the day? I’m just curious when.

I’m not asking for me but more for my friends

I’m the least qualified, I’m not gonna pretend

But I’ll do what I can and I’ll do it for them

First off though I think I should really come clean

I stopped going to church when I was 16

I honestly knew it just wasn’t for me

So I lied. And instead I’d get coffee and read

Since we’re being honest I’ve never used a safe space

Even though I’m a special college student snowflake

Unless, wait, didn’t we go to one every Sunday?

Remember everyone closed eyes, held hands, and prayed?

As for facebook, you should unfriend me too then

Since I haven’t used that since 2010

And your hate speech wasn’t cool then

So I mean, in 2018 can you at least pretend?

That you weren’t born in a Puritan colony

God all that shit really bothers me

All of these lectures and homilies, toxic misogyny

You want examples? You just hit the lottery

Follow me.

There’s no agenda no secrets

Women are things besides nurses and teachers

She’s not destroying the family by not being a breeder

She’s doing your job and getting paid less, believe it

So back in what day

Really

Back in what day?

Back when it was a crime to be gay?

Or back to the times they could segregate race

Or back to the land of the free and the slaves?

How can you tell an entire race

To “get over” slavery, “get on with your day”

You realize that Martin and Malcolm were put in the grave cause they didn’t behave?

That was back in the day.

And Gave Obama a chance?

Not even a little bit

You obsessed over seeing the man’s birth certificate

That prejudice? We’ve had our fill of it.

It’s fucking villainous so we’ll do what we can to keep killing it

All lives don’t matter if black lives don’t

Same sex couples can build up a home

Women want equal pay in addition to votes

That’s freedom to us, and it gives me some hope

Authentic Movement- Inspiration for Metanoia 

"Authentic Movement is a form of self-directed, spontaneous movement. This deceptively simple practice supports mindful attunement to inner experience and facilitates profound self-discovery. 

It's core assumption is that there is symbolic meaning in physical action - movement as metaphor. This view is based upon the theory that the entirety of an individual’s life experiences, beliefs, and emotional memories are stored within the body and are accessed through non-verbal and metaphorical expression. This method is a journey of gentle self-exploration, with the aim of contacting unconscious contents, gaining harmony between body/mind, and an experience of core emotional integration, balancing and healing. 

Authentic Movement is done with eyes closed and in the presence of a witness. 

The mover simply follows inner impulses and allows spontaneous expression of highly organic and idiosyncratic movements, gestures, and sounds. The witness provides a safe, nonjudgemental holding container - while also mindfully tracking inner responses to the mover.  Whatever emerges from the depths of the movers psyche is considered to be valuable core information and guidance leading to deepened self-awareness and self-understanding.

After the movement sequence comes to an end - the mover can choose to journal or draw in silence. The mover than shares his/her movement journey with the witness. The witness often shares with the mover any information that came to him/her while witnessing the movement sequence. The witness conveys this information without interpretation and with high regard for the sacredness of the movers process. 

The framework of Authentic Movement honors the ever-growing need to reconnect to the wisdom embedded in our bodies, creativity, and spirits. Access to this wisdom is a vital tool when engaged in the process of gaining inner clarity and navigating a vital connection to life.

The gifts of this practice are - an enhanced capacity for body attunement, valuing the wisdom of the body as a source of intuitive guidance, core emotional healing, a sense of greater freedom of expression, and an open and accepting attitude toward all we experience." 

-Elizabeth Strazar

Time
7/26/16

Awaiting times capsule,
the beauty is faltered

The dusty trails diverge,
a wild appaloosa is in halter-

Clothed in aztec print
and rigid brown leather

Precious moments sought out,
onto a new one- desirable shout

Screaming for time,
the mind plays tricks

Don't you know it's a
raging vine climbing for first pick

Bountiful harvest, the sun sets wise-
to the east or west

Time is a valuable chaotic mess.

-A.C

North Fork Roasting Co.
7/25/16

Balanced with soft floral rose,
a pleasant bright citrus note

Ethiopia to Rwanda,
the bean blends seed to cup

Rough and roasted,
the barnyard fair-trade tone

So rich in color,
deep in flavor- the aroma moans

Carefully quick the percolator drips,
the french pressed

Densely light the bean grows appreciated,
magical delight

Harvested craft & artisanal blends,
the coffee has epic might.

-A.C