Dear Webster by Connie Fife

author’s note before the poem :savage (sav’ij) adj. without civilization; primitive;barbarous (a savage tribe) n. a member of a preliterate society having a primitive way of life; a fierce, brutal person.

i am the one who talks with the mountains

when i am not sliding down the stream of its face/

i am the one who walks the streets late a

night despite the danger

believing this land is mine to roam freely/

i am the one who carved a mask from a thick ttree

then wore it/

i am the one who raises her arms to the sun

then takes flight on winds from the east/

i am the one who says “no more”

then leaves the man whose fists have reconstructed

my bones/

i am the one who defies the narrow definition of love

and loves another woman

and heals a nation in doing so/

i am the one who meeting after meeting turns

away when men misconstrue my words

and goes on/

i am the one whose stories take our collective

pasts into the future

and guarantees that not one day is left behind/

i am the one sleeping on the sidewalks

who speaks to all my elations as the masses

hear only their own silence/

i am the one cradles close to her breasts

small children

and women who were old before they were young/

I am the one who shoots fire into the veins of those

who cannot re-ignite their own sparks

then gives them the responsibility of stocking

the wood/

i am the one who talks to herself and hears

others answer

then writes it down so that the words remain in

my throat/

i am the one who demonstrates against forced

relocation

and uses a shotgun to carry the message clean home/

i am the one who watched as my children’s hair was cut

and cried and wept then screamed “return them”/

i am the one struggling to find her way back

i am the one who uses brushes to paint my resistance

on a canvas

then hangs my tapestry across the horizon/

i am the one whose son died of AIDS while a piece

of myself died each day and couldn’t halt either

then buried my child/

i am the one who was raped by father then

my uncle

and spent years hiding then decided to change it all

and used all my rage to castrate my memory of them

and healed myself with love/

i am the one who late at night screams and howls

and hears voices answer/

i am the one whose death was intended

and didn’t die

Speak Now,Live Now

Another week,another revolution of youth in yet another country. Maybe some people think that way,but in my opinion it’s a reawakening that is happening in the world these days. Thanks to twitter and facebook, we can have the truthful and unedited footage,updates and news of what is happening thousands of miles away, in places we haven’t been, indeed places where we have no sense of the people,culture,traditions and issues which are so relevant in developing a basic image of the country.

Power is the strongest force in the world. Power from a backwards militia regime, with its old fashioned henchmen of tanks, religious brainwashing, and crippling secret informants, is the downfall of this past century. So many millions have suffered, have been the price payed, and for what? For some seemingly Biblical promises of wealth,happiness,community, empty promises which were never fulfilled. Brainwashing is the most subtle tool in humanity, a skill which has been polished to perfection like a shining golden orb.

It is my belief that the most powerful emotions are those of peace and love,and when those are successfully acted upon, there is no stopping the amazing potentials of every individual. Truthfulness is also an important component in any government,in every household and structure. They say that truth hurts, but if we were raised hearing about every truth in the first place, it would not hurt as much as some make it out to.

As a person who was religiously raised and educated, but is not at the present religious, I never mean to offend those who are a devotee of a religion. However I feel that separation of religion and government is imperative. Idolatry in any sense is a crime in my opinion. Of course there are tremendous benefits to the purely devotional aspects of religion, but I feel that as humans we must excel and go beyond the limits of any faith.

Beyond the religious faiths, I feel that sole thing we all need to worship is pure and simple: humanity, the past and future, but the present as well. We all have this in common, to meet together on common ground, on a common good where there are no limitations. The presence of where we are, helping others and combining our efforts to communally step forward is most beneficial in my opinion. Of course it’s nice to do good on your own, but truly sharing not only the experiences and emotions with others is very beautiful. It is completely selfless, and that is most something we must concentrate on moving towards in this day and age.

So speak now, with truth, live now, with love, for yourself, for all, for humanity

New Discoveries!

Well this random little post is about new discoveries in my culinary life ! Lately I have discovered the mighty Medjool date, from Coachella,CA (well that's where the ones I been grinding on come from!). They are so delicious! A few days ago I made amaranth date sunflower seed cashew almond bars, with only a bit of molasses and some almond milk to sweeten.Almost raw, and certainly vegan! I zapped it in the fridge for a while,but it never totally gelled to its suggested state, probably because I opted out of the 1/2 cup of honey.That's way too much sugar for such a sugar sensitive person as me!

I have also discovered almond butter, which I am actually preferring to peanut butter! It's probably lower in fat, I don't really keep tabs on that..but I love it! Over the weekend I was taking a spoonful of it, dipping it in roasted trail mix, then polishing off spoonful after spoonful.mmmm yummy!

And I've also gotten into making my pesto lately! Of course it's vegan! the secrets to it are:

-yellow miso

-roasted nuts, to give it a rich nutty flavor

-no garlic, so you don't fart more than usual in shoulder stand

-lots of olive oil! olive oil is extra healthy and delicious

And last but CERTAINLY not least, Brussel sprouts! These fantastic little green bulbs are full of folic acid, an important ingredient in the vegan (and normal) diet.I steam them, douse them with my vegan pesto, along with steamed broccoli,carrots, and green beans.

So I hope this inspires you all away from the foods you don't need, and which unfortunately our society and country have brainwashed into our minds that we need:

-dairy

-meat

-sugar

-processed foods in general

Treat yourself as the god/goddess that you are!