Three in a Row
I am joining an initiative called NaPoWriMo to write a poem a day for the month of April. I am starting a few days late. Here’s my initial entry.
Three in a Row
You say three is your lucky number
And I wonder if the third time indeed will be
The charm
But haven’t there already been three?
The first one was when we were fifteen
I found you sleeping among the empty vials
And called your mother at work
She came home quick
I might not have been aware of the next
As we had fallen out of touch for a while
And then just as your life began to appear more stable
You did it again
Although this time you tried to take someone else with you
And succeeded in sending her across, but not yourself
There was another time a few years later that landed you again in hospital
So maybe that was the third
Perhaps I shouldn’t think of the attempts as the main events
But instead consider the lives you have already taken:
First the baby, then your mother, and soon, at some point, it will be yourself
Three generations of females
A matrilineal massacre
Leaving all the men standing
Strong and bewildered
A design question
If office chair manufacturers such as Herman Miller identified years ago that people who sit in office chairs for long periods of time get hot and need ventilation (hence the advent of the ubiquitous, award-winning, status-symbol-for-a-time Aeron), why hasn’t anybody considered that little tykes (such as my darling daughter Willow) similarly overheat when seated in such contrivances as car seats and strollers? Why is there no Aeron stroller, no car seat made of a pellicle material that might cool the back and neck and buttocks of toddlers? C’mon people! Just because so many of them can’t talk (yet) doesn’t mean that babies wouldn’t benefit from designs that would make their lives more comfortable. I’m sure I’m not the only parent who has wrested her child out of a car seat only to find her bogged in a pool of sweat. And I’m sure at least a small percentage of those parents must be industrial designers!
On my mind: Michelle Obama
I’m not typically one to editorialize publically on political matters, but the historic presumptive nomination of Barack Obama is such a sizable event in our world that I can’t quite help myself from wanting to express my thoughts. For those who may not have seen it, the New York Times published a pretty interesting article on Michelle Obama and her role in her husband’s presidential bid this week (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/us/politics/18michelle.html?fta=y). Much was made in this piece (and elsewhere) of M.O.’s statement, “For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country.” (This said in light of the new hope, in the form of her husband, that has been sweeping the country.) I’d like to ask a stupid question: What was so egregious about that statement? Has there been in Michelle Obama’s lifetime so very many reasons to be proud of her country, particularly with regard to race issues? I don’t think so. And I don’t get what was so wrong with her saying so. If there’s something I’m missing, please, someone, enlighten me. This seems to me like a classic press-driven over-reaction to a statement born clearly of deep-seated frustration supplanted by the prospect of better times to come. Is the combination of realism, honesty and optimism an admixture we should be tamping down in public life? I for one appreciate Michelle Obama’s courage in saying what she feels and not white-washing (words chosen deliberately) her message. This country has already seen too many pandering politicians. While it is not Michelle who is running for office but her husband, I do not believe she should be muzzled for speaking her truth. Perhaps if Hillary Clinton had shown more honesty and less pandering in her bid for the Democratic nomination the outcome might have been different. Of course, we’ll never know.
