9/11 Thoughts

This is a thing I wrote about 9/11 in 2011 over in the journal world in which I live. Seemed worth updating and posting over here.

A Mnemonic Collection

Stuff I wrote in high school (even as far back as junior high) and college that has survived 27 years or more of moving around the U.S. lives in a pine chest that R built when he was getting started as a professional woodworker (circa 1991). The chest sits in our bedroom closet, crammed full of things I’ve never wanted to throw away. So many things, in fact, that what started out to be a post about my early writing has turned into more of a memory inventory (translated: one of the reasons 2 people need as big a house as we do; pack rats r us).

My Favorite Metaphor for the Day

is this one: your vision a dim flashlight that you have to shake all the way to the outhouse

That’s all I have to say, really. It’s from an Ani DiFranco piece called “Parameters.” The whole piece is beautiful and chilling and definitely worth a listen, but the image of that dim flashlight is sticking with me. You can listen to whole thing here (she chats a bit at the beginning and the crowd’s kind of rowdy, but they settle down):

Art as healing. Metaphors that work. Simply, yes.