Category: musings

Vote for Democracy ’24 #19

closing arguments

(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)

With Election Day only a few days away, the two major party candidates for the US presidency have made their closing arguments to the American people. Because of the availability of early voting, vote-by-mail, and absentee ballots, millions have already cast their ballots, but many more millions will vote on Tuesday, November 5, and some eligible voters will not vote at all. The United States does not usually have high voter turnout and it will be interesting to see if this year is different. Levels of early voting have been very high, so perhaps election-day voting will be, too.

Vice President Kamala Harris gave her speech in front of a crowd of about 75,000 at the Ellipse in Washington DC, with the White House behind her, the same location where Donald Trump spoke at a rally on Jan.6, 2021, calling on his supporters to march to the Capitol where a violent mob broke in and tried to stop Congress from certifying the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

In contrast to Trump’s diviseness, Harris gave a message of unity, explaining how she would be a president for all the people who would listen to differing viewpoints. She talked about her policy proposals for the economy and health care, including reproductive rights and elder care, and shared her biography and experience prior to the vice-presidency. While she was making a contrast with Trump, she was concentrating on a positive, unifying message, which is important as she has been reaching out to Republicans and other conservatives who are dedicated to the Constitution and the rule of law and are repulsed by Trump’s attacks on those principles.

Trump’s closing argument rally was held at Madison Square Garden in New York City which was at its capacity of 19,500. The rally went on for hours; the video link I shared here is the final 3 1/4 hours, which includes all of Trump’s 78-minute speech. The event was designed for Trump’s base of supporters and was quite openly racist, misogynistic, anti-immigrant, and divisive. Trump and the other speakers continued to vilify Trump’s opponents, attacking them personally in often vulgar terms and lying about them and their positions. There is no sense of working together to solve problems, only of seeking vengeance on anyone who disagrees with Trump.

It’s terrifying, especially because so much of Trump’s rhetoric is violent and we all know what happened four years ago when Trump tried to steal an election he had lost.

Donald Trump’s vision of America is dark place of grievance where a few rich and powerful men rule. Instead, I embrace Kamala Harris’s vision of the United States as nation of people of good will who work together within the structures of our laws and government to solve problems and uphold the common good, as the Preamble to our Constitution terms it to “promote the general welfare.”

I hope that all eligible voters will look to those values as they vote not only for president but for other federal, state, and local offices. We must vote to protect our rights and our democratic principles so we can continue to build vibrant, caring, and responsible communities.

Together, we can do this!

Vote!

Halloween

I live in the Northeast United States where it was unusually warm for Halloween yesterday. We set a new temperature record of 75 degrees F. (24 degrees C.)

We aren’t sure if it was the mild weather or some other factor but we had dozens upon dozens of trick-or-treaters last night. We distributed about 75 apples, 30 packets of pretzels, 50 packets of fruit snacks, and 45 peanut butter cups.

It’s nice that so many children choose apples and are excited about seeing them in our treats basket. I was afraid I had overbought but we only had seven apples left over.

I see another trip to the Cider Mill to buy more apples before they run out and close for the season.

a tribute to Bruce Borton

On Sunday, the Madrigal Choir of Binghamton (MCOB) opened its 46th season with a tribute concert to our late director, Dr. Bruce Borton, who passed away in August. He was only the second artistic director of Madrigal Choir and had served on their board and sung with them before being chosen as artistic director when founder Anne Boyer Cotten retired.

For the first few years of his tenure as MCOB director, Bruce was finishing out his long career with Binghamton (NY) University where I had had the privilege of singing under his direction for 29 years as part of the University Chorus, which included singers from the community as well as staff and students from the university. After the closure phase of the pandemic, with Univeristy Chorus permanently disbanded and Madrigal Choir in need of some additional voices, Bruce welcomed me to the second soprano section and invited me to serve on the MCOB board.

In spring of ’23, Bruce developed a serious illness and was on medical leave for most of the ’23-’24 season. He was, though, able to return to conduct Randall Thompson’s Frostiana for our spring concert in April. I had had a feeling at the time that it would be our last opportunity to sing under his direction but had not expected his decline to advance so quickly. I was grateful to be able to join with members of the Madrigal Choir, the Trinity Memorial Episcopal choir, and some of his former students at the University to sing at his funeral.

Uncharacteristically for me who often writes about difficult things in the moment, I couldn’t bring myself to post about Bruce until now.

The Madrigal Choir concert on Sunday was named for the anthem that Bruce had composed in honor of the 25th anniversary of his friend and colleague, Peter Browne, as music director of their church, Trinity Memorial Episcopal. The text is 1 Corinithians 13, which centers on love and is often used at both weddings and funerals. The second half of the concert began with a tribute to Bruce by Alison Dura, long-time Madrigal Choir singer, officer, and board member, followed by the singing of “Love Never Ends.” It was especially poignant to be singing it at Trinity, accompanied by the organ Peter had played for so many years and where both Peter’s and Bruce’s funerals had been held. The meaningfulness of the text and the beauty of Bruce’s setting were able to help me sing it without breaking.

The concert concluded with Morten Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna, which re-interprets Latin texts and chant into more modern tonalities. It was a reflective way to remember Bruce as we sang, “Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.” Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.

Alleluia. Amen.

One-Liner Wednesday: in a democracy

In a democracy it is the duty of every citizen to think.

~~~ James Russell Lowell in the first presidential endorsement in The Atlantic in 1860 when the new magazine endorsed Abraham Lincoln; this year, in only their fifth endorsement in their long, storied history, they endorsed Kamala Harris.

This timely reminder is brought to you as part of Linda’s One-Liner Wednesday. Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/10/30/one-liner-wednesday-getting-ready/

SoCS: mugs

Our family has lots of mugs.

Lots.

There are Big Hug mugs that came years ago filled with FTD flowers. A pair of floral mugs that B and I received as a wedding gift 42 years ago. Mugs from my various Smith College reunions. A line of mugs related to B’s jobs. A mug with children from around the world that was given to me by the middle school principal years ago as a thank-you for being on the building planning team. Some hand-crafted ones which double as works of art. A Doctor Who mug that changes its design depending on the temperature of the liquid inside. Some mugs designed for soup instead of beverages. Sandra Boynton mugs spanning several decades.

Our most recent acquisition is a Sunday Today mug that T and I gave to B for Father’s Day. Its claim to fame is that it is very big, although, of course, it isn’t obligatory to fill it all the way. However, if you do, you need to use two tea bags.

I don’t use mugs very often myself. I don’t drink coffee or tea. I used to love cocoa but it riles up one of my medical conditions. I sometimes will drink white hot chocolate in the cooler weather or make hot milk with spices but it isn’t that frequent.

I do, though, like having reminders of our past in the cupboard, even when they make me nostalgic, like the mug from our children’s elementary school or from the elementary school where my father-in-law was principal for decades. He passed away in 2005, a few years after he retired.

Some day, we will have to downsize and cull some of our mugs.

It will be hard.
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “mug.” Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/10/25/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-oct-26-2024/

One-Liner Wednesday: Madrigal Choir of Binghamton concert on Sunday

If you are in the Binghamton, NY area, please join the Madrigal Choir of Binghamton for this concert, which will include a tribute to our late director, Bruce Borton.

Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/10/23/one-liner-wednesday-no-better-time/

SoCS: what I knew today

I knew I wouldn’t have the brainpower to write in stream of consciousness what I needed to say today about the upcoming election in the US, so I wisely wrote that post in the conventional way – and am shamelessly sharing it here.

Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is to use a word that starts with kn. Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/10/18/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-oct-19-2024/

Vote for Democracy #17

Trump and the f-word

(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)

Donald Trump’s rhetoric has become even more and more extreme, to the point that some in the media and politics have moved from characterizing it as authoritarian to calling it fascist. Historians, such as Ruth Ben-Ghiat and Heather Cox Richardson, have written columns and done interviews about this, as well as economist, professor, and former Cabinet secretary Robert Reich and many others.

They aren’t wrong.

While Trump has long demonized immigrants, he is now vowing to deport not only undocumented immigrants but also some immigrants who have legal status, such as temporary protected status or pending asylum claims, and even naturalized citizens and children of immigrants born in the United States who are citizens under the Fourteenth Amendment of our Constitution. He plans to round up millions of immigrants, place them in detention camps, and send them to other countries. Not only would this devastate these individuals and families, it would also tear apart many communities and devastate certain employment sectors with large numbers of immigrant-workers, such as agriculture, hospitality, construction, and food processing.

Trump is threatening to imprison law-abiding political opponents and members of the independent media, solely on the basis of their opposing viewpoints and truthful reporting. He repeatedly refers to them as “the enemy within.” This is chilling not only for public officials but also for lowly bloggers like me and people with Harris-Walz signs on their lawns. Will Trump-inspired vigillantes come after people like me?

Trump is threatening to use the military inside the United States to squelch protests and arrest people. It is illegal for the US military to operate in this way within the borders of the US, though they can help with things like disaster relief when cleared by state governors. He has even threatened to try civilians before military tribunals rather than in the courts, which is also unconstitutional.

Besides demonizing immigrants, especially people of color, Trump has scapegoated people of certain faiths, such as Muslims and Jews. He has a long history of denigrating Black people, dating from his early days in New York CIty real estate. His mistreatment of women is well-known from his decades of philandering and sexual abuse to his disregard for women’s right to bodily autonomy in the aftermath of the overturning of Roe v. Wade which he made possible. White male superiority is seen as the center of power, which gives those with fascist ideas cover to demean women, people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, religious minorities, immigrants, or anyone they feel does not fit the strongman mold.

Fascism is not democratic. The United States is. It’s time for all eligible voters to stand up for democracy on Election Day, Tuesday, November 5th, or before if early voting or vote-by-mail are available in your state. If you value our democracy, do not vote for Donald Trump or for any Republican who is not publicly opposing his hateful, fascist policies. Do not write in the name of your spouse or next-door neighbor. Do vote for Kamala Harris and the Democrats who value democracy and want to govern for the common good, not just those who voted for them.

Many Republican and former Republican elected officials and staff members have endorsed Vice President Harris because our democractic principles and the rule of law are much more important than particular policy disagreements. They know that, if Trump is elected, he will expand executive power and carry out the violent, fascistic threats he has been making.

Join them and all those who value our freedoms to Vote for Democracy!

end of BHPC residency + return to reality

The Boiler House Poets Collective after our reading at The Bear & Bee

When I last posted, I had intended to post again sooner, but I found that the BHPC reading had taken a lot more out of me than I had thought, so I concentrated the energy I had on writing new poems and actually making it to workshop sessions.

We also had our planning meeting for next year, which will mark the tenth anniversary of the formation of the Boiler House Poets Collective after the original members met at the first workshop-in-residence by the Studios at MASS MoCA in conjunction with Jeffrey Levine of Tupelo Press. No details available now but lots of fun ideas under consideration!

I am so grateful to be a part of BHPC and am particularly thankful that we have become a true collective, with everyone pitching in to make it all work. I love our creative, supportive, and affirming atmosphere. Given my current health limitations, I would not have been able to participate this year without everyone else’s generosity in lending me a hand – sometimes literally when my balance was off! I also love how our three new members this year brought creative, joyful energy along with them and all plan to return next year.

I came home to a week of medical appointments and tests and an unfortunate uptick in symptoms. We are still working on a diagnosis with more tests and specialists forthcoming. We’ve ruled out a lot of possibilities but I’m anxious to arrive at a diagnosis so that we have a shot at figuring out an effective treatment plan.

Meanwhile, we have less than three weeks until Election Day here in the US. I hope to get out another Vote for Democracy ’24 post out soon.

Deadlines…

Museum and reading with BHPC

Continuing with stories from the Boiler House Poets Colllective workshop-in-residence at The Studios at MASS MoCA…

Yesterday was a loooong day here in North Adams. I managed to get some studio time in the first part of the morning, including writing another section of the poem I started my first day here. If anything, it got a bit darker/starker. I’m not sure if this will be the final section or if one more may appear before the end of residency. I just know it’s unlikely to be today.

I went to the museum when they opened at 10:00. My goal was to blitz the new exhibits and take some photos for future reference. I also collected the guides for the new work to use as reminders and background if I decide to write some ekphrastic poems. MASS MoCA is not a collecting museum. While there are some long-term exhibits, most are only here for a year or so before moving on to another location. It’s one of the things that keeps returning here every year fresh. I wanted to do a walk-through as soon as possible – the museum was closed on Tuesday – so that I’d have time to let some ideas percolate and then return to specific pieces to take notes or even draft new poems.

I did, though, re-visit some of my long-term favorite exhibits, including our namesake Boiler House. (I have a poem about that.) The photo above was taken there. For some reason, this equipment really caught my eye this year, perhaps because it is colorful among the rust.

I was also on the lookout for the formerly upside-down tress of Natalie Jeremijenko’s Tree Logic. (I have a poem about that.) The piece had been in the courtyard at MASS MoCA’s entrance for almost 25 years, with the trees periodically swapped out and planted. As they return to their natural position, the bends in the trunk and branches eventually straighten. Positive phototropism! The last six trees were planted near Richard Nonas’ Cut Back Through (for Bjorn). I have a poem about that, too, which I will actually share here. This is a revised version of the poem that first appeared in Emulate.

Time/Rate/Distance
after Cut Back Through (for Bjorn), Richard Nonas

Three thrones hold court,
sun-warmed, polished granite;
ancient mica flecks five 
rough-hewn footstools. 

Bees prefer surrounding clover, 
sweet white sustenance for inevitable 
winter, oblivious to any human,
serve their sisters and queen.

I, too green, too new,
too fragile for this place,
settle on footstool, 
absorb warmth of sun,
strength of stone,
whole-heartedness of bees.


After being on my feet for so long, my neck and back were tired and I accepted the offer that my apartment-mate had made to rest on her mat in her studio, which is outfitted with an acupressure mat for the back and neck. That revived me enough to be ready for our group lunch at 1:00.

After lunch, we took two of our new BHPC members on a tour of the Boiler House, which is a fun tradition.

Then, I went to our apartment to rest for the afternoon to get ready for our reading. I scooted out for an early solo dinner at Boston Seafood, which has been in North Adams since before I can remember in the 1960s. Bonus: they serve mocha sundaes, one of the few places left that holds to that North Adams tradition. (I have a couple of mocha poems, of course.)

The reading was at 7 PM at The Bear & Bee Bookshop. I’m pleased to say that we were standing room only and the reading was very well received. Through the miracle of alphabetical order, I was first up and read three North Adams poems, one about Drury High School, an ekphrastic poem about Xu Bing’s Phoenix which ties into some local history, and one about the public library. I was grateful to be first so that I could enjoy the rest of the reading. There were even some questions during the Q&A!

While most of the poets went to a neighboring restaurant for dinner/celebrating after the reading, I went back to the apartment to lie down and rest my neck and back. When my apartment-mate came home, we talked for a couple of hours – or maybe closer to three? – before turning in.

The long day with lots of walking and stairs and standing had gotten to me, though. My neck, shoulders, and back all tightened up and I had a lot of trouble sleeping. Today is going to be a slow day. I’m in my studio now but will probably head back to the apartment after I post this to rest and/or nap before lunch at 1. I’ll probably need to spend most of the rest of the afternoon prone, too, in order to be upright for supper out and evening discussion. It’s annoying to have to spend so much time lying down and resting but everyone is having a good and fruitful experience with our residency and I’m very grateful for that and for being here, even though I have unaccustomed limits this year.