Wow, July is really already gone. August is here and the sun is tilting closer to the earth, or so it seems. Today is grey and overcast, a perfect canvas for the brilliant green trees to show off their gratitude for the summer sun. Small apples are appearing on their branches, eagerly waiting for fall when all is red and orange and time is slow again.
Because July went by rapidly, like the quick flicker of the fireflies in my backyard, I am going to do a short series of Love Letters to July over the next couple weeks. There is so much I want to say, there is so much that I need to come up for breath on and having this space to write an open letter to you feels like the devotion I want to pay attention to. So here is a brief-ish glimpse into my most cherished July memories:
Detroit Kite Festival was July 14th. I have decided that the kite festival is my Fourth of July. Kites have magical technologies to create revolution through play. Kites evoke joy and the possibility of our most audacious dreams coming true. They are beautiful birds that mirror our true inner colors.
2. I had the deep privilege to facilitate two poetry workshops in July. One was virtually through a Hybrid Poets group that meets bimonthly. We are group of writers who are hungry for art that disrupts genre, the academy and all things “should be.” I got to teach a workshop on the poetic form, the ghazal. I volunteered for this because I wanted to learn more about the poems that captivated me so much. I am especially interested in this form because it is Persian, like me, and it dates back to the seventh century at least. One thing I learned about the ghazal that gave me so much joy was that each line should be its own poem, like a pearl on a necklace. I love that idea because when I write poems, I want them to be pictures that the reader can walk into and pull up chair inside of. The ghazal is something you write to your beloved one, something you place around their neck tenderly, like a pearl necklace.
Thankfully, I had a reprieve from the heat towards July’s end. I was rejuvenated by the cool salt breeze of Seattle after finally returning for a whirlwind 30 hour tour with best friends, old haunts and new beaches- the water lapped up to my ankles like a house cat purring to be noticed and fed. I got to stay with my best friend, we met over a decade ago and nursed each other’s heartbreak wounds through music and poetry, laughter and longing for something other than the lies we had believed were ours for far too long. When I landed in Seattle and Devon drove me to a favorite diner for breakfast, I got all the feels for this place again. Being in Seattle felt like being dropped into a terrarium, a perfect luscious green ecosystem with climbing pines that pierced through the fog. That night I met up with a cacophony of friends at Molly Moon’s. There’s nothing like old friends and good ice cream. We shared belly laughs and remember whens. It was just the medicine I needed. As I woke up the next morning, my heart whispered, welcome home
4. I took a train from Seattle to Portland to attend the BIPOC Adoptee VOICES conference. Let me tell you that my world was just rocked! I will write more in depth about this but it was literally life changing and world shifting. I met so many folks who I have been organizing with for over four years, for the first time in person! When I walked into the open mic night on Friday night , I was welcomed with big hugs from familiar faces I had seen on my screen only. This is the family reunion I had been longing for. This was my space to belong in. There was over 200 of us Black and Brown adoptees on the Portland State University campus that weekend. Every time , I got onto an elevator or walked down the hall to the bathroom, I was greeted by knowing hellos and healing smiles. I felt like I could sink in and rest, finally in a place where I was seen. I didn’t get a lot of great pictures from my time in Seattle or PDX because honey, I was living the moments!
Gwendolyn Brooks said, “ We are each other’s harvest, we are each other’s business. We are each other’s magnitude and bond.”
In the BIPOC adoptee community, we are each other’s talismans. We see each other's magic and recognize that it was wielded through great struggle We sing each other home and anoint each other with the gift of being known
A couple more nuggets:
💎 I got to share my thoughts and feelings on the 2020 Allied Media Conference, it was the first room (zoom doom room) where I was in with other BIPOC adoptees. Gratitudes up that it wasn’t my last!
💎 Here is my favorite ghazal, Ghazal for Becoming Your Own Country
💎 It is Primary’s in the Great Lakes State(and other places across turtle island) today. If you must vote for a president, vote for your friendly and radical BIPOC socialist candidates and end the rule of billionaires once and for all!
💎 I am participating in The Sealey Challenge this August. It’s the real poetry month and I plan on doing a close reading post on the books I’ve been absorbing lately.
💎 When all things fail and the summer heat is bullying you, buy ice cream. I suggest Jeni’s or Malai.
Stay frosty, dear ones 🍦✊🏽