Blog – Top of JC’s Mind

Revisiting a poem on Ukraine

In the early weeks of this most recent phase of the war Russia is waging against Ukraine, Lorette Luzajic of The Ekphrastic Review chose Carousel, a 1906 painting by the Ukrainian artist Olexandr Murashko, as the prompt for the biweekly Ekphrastic Writing Challenge.

I was honored that she chose my poem for inclusion in a powerful set of responses.


In Kyiv

‘round and ‘round
the sisters
on the carousel

up and down
smiling
until

the earth shakes
the horses fall
the bloodied flee

or fight

~~~ Joanne Corey


I’m sorry that, nearly two years later, the Ukrainian people are still suffering this terrible invasion. I call on all freedom-loving nations to continue to support Ukraine without delay and without letting would-be authoritarians or autocrats get in the way. I particularly call on the United States Congress to pass an aid package without preconditions or extraneous amendments.

Human needs are much more important than political points.
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Join us for Linda’s Just Jot It January! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/01/25/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-25th-2024/

One-Liner Wednesday: story books

It had been startling and disappointing to me to find out that story books had been written by people, that books were not natural wonders, coming of themselves like grass.

Eudora Welty

Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays and/or Just Jot It January! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/01/24/one-liner-wednesday-jusjojan24-the-24th-lights-keep-flickering/ 

Reblog: Marilyn McCabe on Gail DiMaggio

Marilyn McCabe and Gail DiMaggio are original members of the Boiler House Poets Collective, which is how we met. I am pleased to reblog this post from Marilyn’s blog, O Write, in which she offers her reflections on Gail’s poem, “Metta for Judy who Loved a Biker”.

I don’t want to steal any thunder from Marilyn or Gail here, but urge you to check it out.
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Join us for Linda’s Just Jot It January! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/01/23/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-23rd-2024/

JC’s Confessions #28

In the first few seasons of The Late Show, Stephen Colbert did a recurring skit, then a best-selling book, called Midnight Confessions, in which he “confesses” to his audience with the disclaimer that he isn’t sure these things are really sins but that he does “feel bad about them.” While Stephen and his writers are famously funny, I am not, so my JC’s Confessions will be somewhat more serious reflections, but they will be things that I feel bad about. Stephen’s audience always forgives him at the end of the segment; I’m not expecting that – and these aren’t really sins – but comments are always welcome.

I tend to stick with social media platforms, even when they do objectionable things.

I admire those who have stopped reading/posting on Facebook/Meta, X/twitter, Substack, etc. in a principled response to their behavior, but I haven’t been able to bring myself to follow suit.

Instead, I’ve carved out my own way to shelter myself from misinformation and vitriol. I use tools and filters so that I see posts from people I follow rather than a general feed. I manage to block most advertisements. I interact with some platforms, such as Substack, nearly exclusively through articles being sent to my email rather than going to their site. I try not to read comments on political, environmental, religious, or anything-even-vaguely-controversial posts, because things get nasty quickly. I’ve recently started limiting the comments on some of my posts on X to only people that I follow to avoid being attacked over believing in fossil-fuel-driven climate change.

Part of the reason I’ve maintained my presence on some platforms is that there are people with whom I’m connected only there. It’s also because I’m afraid to lose any contacts that I have for my blog and my poetry. I don’t have a large number of followers, so I’m loathe to cut any of them off.

This strategy has been working okay for me for now, but that could change. I’m hoping that my posts create tiny moments of sanity for those that do happen across them.

I also want to thank those that have left platforms for calling attention to problems with social media. I applaud your voices and your commitment.

Maybe, someday, I’ll manage to follow your example.
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Join us for Linda’s Just Jot It January! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/01/22/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-22nd-2024/

for the love of plants

My daughter T loves plants.

She loves them so much that she has a master’s degree in conservation biology of plants. One of her favorite things to do is remove invasive species so that native species can thrive. She can expound at length on the topic of relocating plant species to different elevations and latitudes to help them survive the effects of climate change.

At the moment, it’s winter here and she is recovering from shoulder surgery, so no eradicating of invasive species allowed in the near future.

She has to content herself with tending our indoor plants.

Under her care, the African violets and kalanchoe are in bloom.
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I shockingly used the prompt “plants” from J-Dub of J-Dub’s Grin and Bear It as part of Linda’s Just Jot It January. (It’s only shocking because I seldom use the prompts and usually meander off in my own direction.) Whether you want to use prompts or not, please join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/01/21/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-21st-2024/

SoCS: what’s in a nutshell?

As a writer, or even as a speaker, I have a lot of trouble with putting things in a nutshell.

I don’t like to commit things to print or speech unless I’ve had a long time to mull them and reflect on them deeply. By the time I’ve done that, there is too much material to stuff into a nutshell. (She says while writing stream of consciousness with minimal reflection time…)

I guess I save my “nutshell communication” for poetry, when I’m usually looking to distill the essence into as few words as possible. Just the meat of the matter. Still, though, carrying depth.

Metaphor helps…
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Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “in a nutshell.” To find out more about joining the fun of Stream of Consciousness Saturday and/or Just Jot It January, visit here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/01/19/the-friday-reminder-for-socs-jusjojan-2024-daily-prompt-jan-20th/ 

long COVID research summary

I realize I’ve done A LOT of COVID posts this month, but I had to share this post from Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, writing as “Your Local Epidemiologist.” She gathers together the major research advances in understanding long COVID from 2023, with lots of links to the original research.

One of the main takeaways, which I included in this post earlier in the week, is that vaccines help cut down on long COVID cases, with more doses contributing to lower risks.

Dr. Jetelina also suggests subscribing to The Sick Times newsletter, which is dedicated to sharing the latest information about long COVID weekly.

I’m grateful that the rate of long COVID has declined from early in the pandemic, but it is still affecting millions, some new cases and some months or years old. It’s important to learn more about it so treatments can be developed for long COVID and other post-infection syndromes.
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Join us for Linda’s Just Jot It January! You can use provided prompts or post whatever you like, even multiple posts about COVID. (Okay, that’s just me,) Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/01/19/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-19th-2024/

Current COVID stats

Update to my COVID post from earlier in the week: Those Nerdy Girls newest post tells us that, using wastewater surveillance, current estimates are that 5% of people in the United States are currently infected with COVID, the largest proportion since the initial Omicron wave two years ago. In the United Kingdom, JN.1 caused a similar wave just before Christmas, with London having an even higher infected rate of almost 6%.

Those Nerdy Girls remind us that about 1,500 people in the United States are dying from COVID every week, making COVID much deadlier than the flu. They also remind us that the COVID vaccine that became available in September ’23 is effective against JN.1 and urge people to receive it if they haven’t already. They also remind people that masking, ventilation, testing, and staying home when you are sick help in avoiding spread not only of COVID but also flu and other viruses.

Please do what you can to keep yourself and others safe and healthy!
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Join us for Linda’s Just Jot It January! Find our more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/01/18/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-18th-2024/

One-Liner Wednesday: doing right

The time is always right to do what’s right.

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesday and/or Just Jot It January! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/01/17/one-liner-wednesday-jusjojan24-the-17th-grateful/ 

Vote for Democracy ’24 #1

The first major event in preparation for the November ’24 United States presidential election took place last night. Former president Donald Trump won the Iowa caucuses, which will give him twenty delegates in the Republican party nominating convention in the summer. The other twenty delegates were awarded among DeSantis, Haley, and Ramaswamy; Ramaswamy left the race and endorsed Trump after the results were announced. (The Democrats decided to use mail-in ballots with results announced on March 5th.)

Although the nominating conventions won’t be until summer, it is widely expected that the November election will be a contest between current president, Democrat Joe Biden, and the former president, Republican Donald Trump, along with several independent/small party challengers.

That all sounds normal, but it isn’t. Donald Trump is under 91 felony indictments, some in federal cases and others in the states of Georgia and New York. A lot of evidence of his conduct is already publicly available, through government reports, recordings of speeches and phone calls, public comments, interviews, testimony at hearings and trials, and the media. There is also a lot of evidence of other Republicans cooperating with criminal activity or excusing it.

This election is widely considered to be a test of American democracy and values. I’ve struggled with what my role should be in standing up for our Constitution, democracy, and the common good. I do a lot of behind-the-scenes actions, such as writing to my elected officials and other government leaders and donating to political candidates, lobbying organizations, and charities that express my values. I frequently post my views on political topics here at Top of JC’s Mind. In this late November post, I made clear how dangerous I think a second Trump administration would be.

Although I’m painfully aware of my lack of reach, I want to add my voice to those fighting to preserve democracy and promote a national government that serves the common good rather than just the rich and powerful. So, I’ve decided to start an election year series here at Top of JC’s Mind, “Vote for Democracy ’24”, to provide more visibility to these posts.

I plan for these posts to be informative, factual, and reflective of my views. Readers are welcome to add their own views in comments but there are two requirements. Comments must be respectful; I do not allow vulgarity, name calling, or threats on my blog. (I remind those who use “freedom of speech” as an excuse to say whatever they want, wherever they want that the First Amendment is about the government’s actions regarding speech, not private individuals.) Comments must also be based in fact. I will not allow my platform to amplify lies, conspiracy theories, or hatefulness. I will exercise my right to delete comments that violate these requirements. I will respectfully reply to people across the range of opinions if they do follow these requirements. I hope not to do this, but I will block particular people, if needed, or close comments, if things get out of hand.

In November ’23, I wrote:

I know that I will not vote for Trump or any candidate for office at any level who supports him and his dangerous ideas. I will try to get the word out as best I can what those dangerous ideas are because some of the people who support Trump only hear his rhetoric and not the countervailing facts. For example, I encourage people to read the indictments against Trump, which lay out a lot of the underlying evidence. It’s also helpful to read the report of the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, as well as the Mueller Report. I also am supporting voices and organizations that are working to uphold democracy, the rule of law, and the common good.

I’m also worried and scared about violence, oppression, and losing my free, if flawed, country to demagogues, authoritarians, and fascists.

While I tend to pay attention to politics and public affairs all the time, many in the United States don’t notice what is going on with government except in presidential election years. I hope to encourage people to look at facts and evidence and draw their own conclusions rather than just following along with a candidate or party by inertia. I have never joined a political party and have a history of voting for candidates from multiple parties. I value my right as a citizen to vote and want others to retain their freedom to do so without obstacles or intimidation. I hope that others in the United States hold similar values regarding voting and that those in other countries stay informed and are able to freely participate in their own governance, although I realize that is an impossibility in some places.

2024 will be a momentous year in US history. Pay attention.
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Join us for Linda’s Just Jot It January! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/01/16/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-16th-2024/