REFLECTING ON 2018

It all started when…

That day
We stayed
We felt close

There was so much laughter

Wave after wave
None of the nervous, performative laughter
All deep, belly based

Deep swells
I float

When the band drops

And our feet
And hands
And smiles
Are the music

Satisfying SMACK

Palms meet sweet on the upbeat

Hold now and balance
That moment of entrainment
Motion and sound aligned
Unified we all cry Ahhh
The joy of connection
Belonging, play, silliness,

acceptance

Poem collected and arranged by Penelope Weinberger

We move with our future

How do the present and the future rub together - and what can we see more clearly when they pull away from one another?

We say things like
I didn’t know my body could move like this
Didn’t know the world could open to me in this kind of a way
Didn’t know I could ask questions like these

The future carries its own rules along with it
It is a vulnerable thing because there is no existing grade to assign

We move with our future
Sometimes we feel like the Other
Like we are outside of ourselves
And we keep moving, trying, connecting

Failure cannot stop our momentum
because there is no such thing
as failure

We are the kinds of mountains that hold others safe between us
and no one
shows up
like we do

If songs have been written about bright morning stars already
we paste ourselves into the lyrics
and give way to all the sparkling in our new laughter
our new yearning
our new wanting

Because they are the threads
that braid into the thrumming heart
at the center of being alive

Poem written by Gabrielle Lanza (excerpt)