With the Gazans
Palestinians in short do not deserve anything like a narrative or collective actuality, and so they must be transmuted and dissolved into essentially negative images. —Edward Said, From Oslo to Iraq and the Road Map:…
On Ryōkan
The following was written about Japanese Zen Master Ryōkan by a friend… When Ryōkan visits it is as if spring had come on a dark winter’s day. His character is pure and he is free of…
Next Share the Wealth with Sara Rendell: “And Yet “. . .Lessons Learned and Unlearned in Med School
As my airplane sliced the sky over the Atlantic Ocean heading from Burkina Faso to the US of A, I asked myself two questions: How has West Africa changed me? And, how will medical school change me? Looking…
Numbers
for Hedy 45 phone calls on 8.15 82 guests at birthday party 1948 arrival in USA 5 attempts to reach people in Gaza 2 grand-daughters 20+ years working fair housing 1982 wake-up call 2 parents…
Presence
I had a shrine for a while A photo collage of the greatest hits of your life I meditated on it on those bright desolate winter days Your effervescence somehow emanating from the black and…
Soul’s Soundtrack
Before coming to tonight’s writing class I listened to a song from my youth George Harrison late 1970 My Sweet Lord I think I could go far in mettā If I allowed that song to penetrate…
Boeing/Gaza (“It’s Not Personal; It’s Strictly Business”)
The Boeing Company must have been thrilled this past month Its warplanes performing so expertly in front of the world And Boeing is proud of its “products” and its customers Conflicts, massacres, wars They’re all…
Share the Wealth with Penny Smith: Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems
In our modern American culture, is it possible to make counter-cultural choices in your career and lifestyle – working less hours, living more simply, etc. – without going so far as living on a commune? How…
For Eileen
The mists rise over The still pools at Asuka. Memory does not Pass away so easily. –Yamabe no Akahito, 8th century translated by Kenneth Rexroth