Sunday, January 22, 2017

Silence

We march, we protest, we speak out on social media and in our lives because if we stay silent nothing will change. If we stay silent we are guilty: guilty of prejudice, of discrimination, of misogyny, of hatred, of indifference to the suffering of the poor and the disadvantaged. We CANNOT be silent. We CANNOT be complacent. There is too much at stake.



Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
‘Neath the halo of a streetlamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
No one dare
Disturb the sound of silence

“Fools” said I, “You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you”
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said “The words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls
And whispered in the sounds of silence

Saturday, January 21, 2017

Paper and Ink

So, I'm sitting here having a freak-out about money and I decide to meditate for a minute to ground myself and calm down (DBT skills for the win). I come out of my little meditation to hear Tracey Chapman on Pandora singing "Money's only paper and ink. Money's only paper and ink." Yes, womyn! Next song that comes on? My favorite, favorite, FAVORITE go-to song when I'm stressed: "Closer to Fine" by the Indigo Girls. Does the Universe know what I need, or what? I freakin love music.