Amidst the conflict and turmoil around us - war, ethnic, racial, and gender bias and violence, disintegrating democracies, and a reeling climate, it is a moment to reflect on the reality that we are all one family of humanity. (In fact, a family of species, I learn, listening to and watching anthropologist Lucy Cooke, author of Bitch: On The Female of the Species.)
So in this waning moment of 2022, I want to leave you all with a thought on just one of these necessary acts of inclusion. Or two brief notations, really. One a poem I wrote this month. And the other a remarkable ad for J&B whiskey on Spanish media, which has gone viral.
First the poem:
JUST THIS
I rise to a grey sky,
a lumbar ache,
sciatic pain at my ankle,
and a hungry cat.
Pull on
grey and pink
lounge pants,
apply a heating pad;
lie down to meditate.
The child that
created me appears,
revealed in notes home
from the grammar school
Misses and Mrs’s who taught me
decades ago.
Gwendolyn Collin, first grade,
who thought I needed
to “assume responsibility
for my behavior.”
Irene Griffith, second grade,
found I “became excited very easily,”
and combined “bravado”
with “sensitiveness.”
Mildred, Smith, ah, Mildred,
my favorite;
taught us nimbus and cirrus
in the third grade;
observed I was a “restless child”
Thresa Kendall,
Introduced me to
addition, subtraction,
multiplication, division;
noted I was “not a gifted athlete.”
Yvonne Watkins fifth grade,
knew I felt inferior, was
easily vexed, grimaced,
blinked, looked often at my feet,
the feet that “learned new dances quickly;”
saw that I “preferred to play with the girls.”
Maxine Watson, sixth grade
said I was “poised, reasoned well,”
and was intolerant of those
who weren’t and didn’t;
had “exceptional rhythmic ability,”
and, thanks to baseball was
”one of the boys now!”
I hitch up my loungers,
add a seashell necklace,
a purple scarf;
put in my earrings,
and feed the cat.
…
Then the Spanish ad that I hope will make it over to this side of the pond.
J&B Whisky holiday commercial about trans acceptance with emotional twist goes viral
Happy transition to 2023!
Beautiful, both! This is what I have always looked for; open minds, open hearts.
Loved both the poem and the whiskey ad. Thanks, Gordon.