Oh my Mama

Oh my Mama
She gave me these feathered breaths
And she told me use your voice,
My little bird.

She did give me fancy feet
I'll be dancing on.
And I'll tap tap tap my toes
Into those creaking floorboards,

The Mamas
Give the waters of their wells,
Give the babies this very dirt we're walking on.

My Mama
She gave me these feathered breaths
And your Mama
She gave you those feathered breaths too.

And when the sky drops all those feathers
And when the birds sing in the morning
I'll be a mama,
I'll have a daughter.
And I'll give her melodies
And then my little bird
She'll fly.


(I didn't write this, but it's beautiful and it's sung by Alela Diane)

SPRING!

Something for calendars...

East/West

Today I discovered that the Elmwood Village is sort of sandwiched between two very poor and forgotten neighborhoods known as the East and West sides of Buffalo. The West side needs lots of attention and growth and seems to be headed that way. People are investing in homes and making them beautiful, starting block clubs, opening businesses. I believe change is already happening there.

The East side, though, is far worse. It's hidden behind Broadway, the area where countless people flock to in search of Easter goodies, unaware that such poor neighborhoods are close by. Shootings are frequent and the front doors of houses have marks of break-in attempts. I am not exagerating when I say this - almost every OTHER house is boarded up and spray painted as unsafe. These houses are forgotten by the city, but still look lived in by the homeless. On these streets, it's hard to distinguish what I see from pictures I saw after Katrina hit.



When there is this much need, it is daunting to even think of how to begin to help. All I know is that the way they are living is not okay. They deserve much more than they have. Maybe we could start by opening doors.

dear penpal:

so i'd send a text
put it next to a radio,
boomerang it's back again
with electric hooves.

this pony is express:
messages without wires
but no one misses
the sound of words over a line.

paper boomerangs instead
to a distant friend
sound like they're lost
but they carry more weight
and have further to go
before they can rest
in the comfort of like minds.

working with hands...

Since I expressed interest in guitar lessons about two weeks ago, I've had two people offer me guitars - so now I have one to borrow while a friend strings one for me to use. Tonight was my first half-guitar lesson with Mary and I'm very excited about it. It was a half-guitar lesson because there were two people with only one guitar!

I can't wait to incorporate more music into my life, it is so relaxing.

Also, Tamy offered to let me use her bread machine (Mine broke about three months ago). So hopefully there will be more bread-making in the near future too!

yesterday's sunset :)

my brother's message to himself... :)

Lent cont'd

So the bread worked out fine. It was really calming to be able to bake and I wish I could do it all the time.

My independent study professor had this observation about Lent:

Perhaps as a community we shouldn't be focused on what to give up that would deprive us of something and bring us closer to Jesus. Instead we should be actively thinking about how to better GIVE OUT; what can we give (time, help, food, hugs) to live a life more closely entwined with Christ?

I like that better. I like giving out better than giving up. And is it really a sacrifice of time, energy, whatever, if it's poured out to the people we love?

Not by bread alone...

Today I am making bread by hand.

...I'll let you know if I actually get bread out of this effort.