Tag: love

February (1893 Poem)

A #FlashbackFriday February Poem Share (plus background supporting the likely metaphorical nature of today’s poetry selection).

February

Gay lucidity,
Not yet sunshine, in the air;
Tingling secrets hidden everywhere,
Each at watch for each;
Sap within the hillside beech,
Not a leaf to see.

Katharine Harris Bradley & Edith Emma Cooper
(They, as Michael Field)

Katherine Harris Bradley and niece Edith Emma Cooper wrote poetry together, and their name Michael Field “was their way of declaring their inseparable oneness”.

FURTHER FLASHBACK READING

Awareness: The Year 1893 in LGBT Rights

Washington, United States
Homosexual activity becomes illegal (imprisonment as punishment):

Responding to STATE v. PLACE, the Washington State Legislature adopted the common law definition of “crimes against nature” and established a penalty of “imprisonment at hard labor in the state penitentiary for not less than ten nor more than fourteen years” upon conviction of sodomy.

EQUALDEX

List of American Films of the 1890s
American modernist poet Dorothy Parker born 1893

Poems & Poetic Prose

Featured photo via CC0 @Hippopx.

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Simplification Complications

Nothing ever so
black and white
as how it feels when
unheard and unseen

Those gray areas
strike out, fail to find  
the other’s comfort—
spin: avoid handling  

Much as black and white
’round and ’round it goes
life’s merry-go-round
spins out of control

Out of sorts because
someone’s not trying
foggy days of gray
clear as next day’s dawn

Black-and-white thinking
risky business, may—
may not—benefit
any argument

Written for @Sadje’s #WDYS 161 image prompt:

Image in black and white depicts two unidentified silhouettes standing face-to-face in front of an enveloping black and white spiral
Cottonbros via Pexels

Follow the link (above image) for participation guidance and join in!

Black and White Thinking’s Most Useful Quote?

I spent a lot of years trying to outrun or outsmart vulnerability by making things certain and definite, black and white, good and bad. My inability to lean into the discomfort of vulnerability limited the fullness of those important experiences that are wrought with uncertainty: Love, belonging, trust, joy, and creativity to name a few.
Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/black-and-white-quotes

Brene Brown, via Forbes

Which quote about black-and-white or gray-area thinking holds value for you, or what do you think about applications of black-and-white thinking or decision-making?

Do gray areas always exist?