What thou lovest well remains,
the rest is dross
What thou lov'st well shall not be reft from thee
What thou lov'st well is thy true heritage...
Ezra Pound, Canto LXXXI
It's easy to get discouraged these days. It's stark and harsh out there. It's getting hard to make your way and the old White men all seem to have an austerity fetish this year.
It seems that in so many places the clock is turning back to the Winter of our discontent. In times like these it is good to remember that no matter what, there are some good things that endure.
The other day I took the local bus to do some errand or other. At the next stop after I got on a young couple climbed aboard with their very new baby. Their faces had that special glow that only the very young and the very much in love can know. They kept looking at each other and then down at the baby as though to say, "Wow! We really made a baby! How wonderful and amazing!" The hard road ahead would plant the deadly little seeds of fear soon enough but for now love was all that there was room for.
I couldn't stop grinning. seeing the two of them made my whole day. The young lady was African-American and her man was Caucasian...and it didn't matter at all. There were no whispers or rude remarks the way there would have been when I was their age. Oh sure, there were parts of town where there still might be and parts of the country where there still would be, but the people who do hate and hurt such as these know they are outnumbered badly and that will not get better for them...Not ever.
Almost no one under 40 in California knows what the word, "miscegenation" means...or "mulatto". That means that we all have won something.
Something Big. Something very, very important.
Hold fast to that and cherish it when you watch the news and you want to weep.
Like someone said:
"It gets better."
Be seeing you
the rest is dross
What thou lov'st well shall not be reft from thee
What thou lov'st well is thy true heritage...
Ezra Pound, Canto LXXXI
It's easy to get discouraged these days. It's stark and harsh out there. It's getting hard to make your way and the old White men all seem to have an austerity fetish this year.
It seems that in so many places the clock is turning back to the Winter of our discontent. In times like these it is good to remember that no matter what, there are some good things that endure.
The other day I took the local bus to do some errand or other. At the next stop after I got on a young couple climbed aboard with their very new baby. Their faces had that special glow that only the very young and the very much in love can know. They kept looking at each other and then down at the baby as though to say, "Wow! We really made a baby! How wonderful and amazing!" The hard road ahead would plant the deadly little seeds of fear soon enough but for now love was all that there was room for.
I couldn't stop grinning. seeing the two of them made my whole day. The young lady was African-American and her man was Caucasian...and it didn't matter at all. There were no whispers or rude remarks the way there would have been when I was their age. Oh sure, there were parts of town where there still might be and parts of the country where there still would be, but the people who do hate and hurt such as these know they are outnumbered badly and that will not get better for them...Not ever.
Almost no one under 40 in California knows what the word, "miscegenation" means...or "mulatto". That means that we all have won something.
Something Big. Something very, very important.
Hold fast to that and cherish it when you watch the news and you want to weep.
Like someone said:
"It gets better."
Be seeing you
A baby is the greatest manifestation of hope his or her parents can express. Many thanks.
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