milquetoast | manifesto
(a Cleave Poem ~ you know what to do*)

before I was me | when messy life happens
I was a good girl | spiraling out of control
the responsible one | a total nightmare
the go-to helper | complete and utter chaos
you could always depend on me | when everything you know
to get things done | has gone to hell
acquiescent, compliant | until there is nothing left
I followed the rules | I will fight to the death
when your way or the highway | to restore sanity and justice
forced me to choose, I chose | to speak truth to power
it is after all what we do | to defend what is precious
when we are raised to be | a lover of freedom 
submissive, with a smile | out, loud, and proud
I was invisible then | this is me now…deal with it!

~kat~

•..and in case you don’t, Cleave poems are read in three parts. Essentially it’s three poems in one, best when each column divided by one of these { | }, is read as a separate poem. Poem 1 – column 1; Poem 2 – column 2; and the the grand finale, lose the divider “|” and read the entire line across. If I’ve done my job here, each poem will stand on its own and the final read will bring both opposing thoughts together. If you would like to write one here’s my best tip. Start with one free verse. Set your divider at the end of each line and write a second free verse line by line in an opposing view. Then tweak a bit to make each line flow when read alone and as a complete line. Good luck. These are always excellent mind workouts when you’re looking for a challenge! 😊

A few thoughts today…

A well-meaning friend advised me the other day that they had started the process of deleting all manner of identifiers or references to progressive ideas, thoughts or beliefs from their social media and online footprint to make it harder to be found out when the subversive powers planning revenge and retribution seek us out (which they believe is coming next after they dismantle all safety nets and accountability for the common good). It felt a slight bit paranoid to me. They suggested, of course, that I do the same…just lay low, try to survive the next 4 years. Stay as much under the radar as possible…go back in the closet of course…and hope they let us live.

The truth is, I gently reminded my friend “they” already know us, and who we are, where we live, work and play, to the finest detail. Every thing we buy, or search for online, every place we go, now that cars and phones have GPS, every click we click. They know what size shoes we wear, how we take our coffee or tea, what we like to read and what we watch on TV. Try searching for a certain style of lamp shade anywhere, and you will be bombarded with lampshade advertisements for weeks…EVERYWHERE you connect with the world. It’s too late to bow out of this circus, I’m sorry to say.

And it got me thinking. Who am I? Who is any one of us if we can’t be who we are. Is free expression reserved only for a chosen few, and who gets to choose and how? Is it power? Is it money? Is there a devil doling out sweet deals for souls? And that thought right there stopped me as I was pondering all of this. 

My soul is not for sale. Come what may, I can’t change who I am or who I am called to be, even for the safety that invisibility might afford me. I may lose the battle to be authentically real, truthful, kind and above all compassionate and loving. But I am in good, good company. We have power too. We are hope and light. As long as we stand together this world cannot fade to black. And it takes a bit more that a fierce bag of wind and bluster (even if the national weather service has been shut down so there is no warning that it’s coming) to extinguish our flame!

Much love, light, and glimmers to you! 

~kat ✨💚✨