For Maya, The Woman Who Lived

I don't know why I cry for Maya, but I do. She has had a long and difficult life, its beginning fraught with prejudice, it middle years of struggle; its end of peace. When I think of her, she is like a mixture of the three, and yet somehow towering above it, strong and wise, enduring. 

I don't know why I cry for Maya, the woman who lived. Perhaps there are some tears of joy for knowing her. Perhaps those are tears of sorrow for not knowing. 

Perhaps I cry thanks to Maya, the woman who lived. 

Love Liberates

The Detached - Maya Angelou {All Rights Reserved, taken from Poemhunter}

We die, 

Welcoming Bluebeards to our darkening closets, 

Stranglers to our outstretched necks, 

Stranglers, who neither care nor

care to know that

DEATH IS INTERNAL.

We pray, 

Savoring sweet the teethed lies, 

Bellying the grounds before alien gods, 

Gods, who neither know nor

wish to know that

HELL IS INTERNAL.

We love, 

Rubbing the nakednesses with gloved hands, 

Inverting our mouths in tongued kisses, 

Kisses that neither touch nor

care to touch if

LOVE IS INTERNAL.

Avoiding the Red Wedding

Apologies in advance for any potential ear-worms generated by this post.

Over the past few days I've been plagued by a particularly nasty ear-worm: the Game of Thrones opening theme. This might be a bit surprising considering I don't actually watch the show.

I know it's a high quality production and the original author, George R. R. Martin, is involved in its making. I read the books long ago so I should be really excited about watching it. Part of me is excited and longs to see Westeros and its people, not just in the way I imagined it to be.

But the greater part of me remembers the pain, anguish and cruelty associated with reading the books and their various intricate plots. I remember the deaths, disappointments, lack of vision and the overall sense of mindless futility of it all. And I don't want to experience the Red Wedding ever again.

Am I a milksop pacifist* who only accepts "happy endings" to be consumed? No. I know there are no "happy endings" in real life, particularly where I happen to live. Books and TV shows allow us to imagine outside of our immediate reality (under some built in constraints). But, sometimes, it just seems a little too extreme; a little too far.

Why, then, am I plagued with this incessant ear-worm, calling me to join Daenerys in her rightful quest to take back her throne? Or see how Jon Snow is doing beyond the wall? Is it a sign of anxiety? Just a matter of catchy, inspiring music? Or am I trying to tell myself something else?

Game of Thrones Main Theme by Ramin Djawadi {iTunes}



*I'm not implying pacifist are milksops. To be a pacifist, on many cases, requires more courage, principles and determination than to be a non-pacifist.

Cats

My feelings towards cats are ambivalent, at best. Sure, you have the unavoidable internet cat, lurking behind every other web page or occasional tweet, being cute and irresistible, the unique predatory cat way. But then you have the real life cats, the ones who fight at 4 AM outside your window or return the favor of your kind pet and piece of cheese with a nasty scratch (that may or may not scar you in more ways then one).

And then there are those cats that stare at you seemingly blankly, smiling inwardly, as you wake up frantically from a nightmare that you could not quite recall, though you swear it was so vivid in your mind it could have left a mark on your skin. Or a scar.

So, cats. Evidently they can also make some pretty good music, a disturbing dark blend of electronics, rock and funk, with uniquely energetic and physically suffused elements. Almost predatory. Almost... like a cat.

Live (photo from the Facebook page)

These particular cats are a group of four good friends from Tel Aviv, working in the best of indie traditions of hard labor, the joy of creation and keeping to their own truth. They dedicate their new single "Disconnect" to their attempt to remove their own misconceptions and prejudices. 'Cause sometimes "the only thing to do is disconnect".

A Cat - Disconnect {iTunes}
They're also on Facebook and Soundcloud.