Beauty

After the past several readings and the all of the diverse presentations, I have had some dificulties organising my thoughts on what I want to do with all this information. I took a bath (some of my biggest life decisions came to me in the tub) i smoked ciggerettes and paced back and forth in the living room, while my roomates dog watched with suspicion. I stared at the ceiling for hours while images of the women of Juaraz, the quilt, betrayed by the angel, partner violence and supermodels raced across my mind. I came up with no resolutions or a storyboard with a plan of action for the future. I did however put my pen to paper and wrote this poem for all of you.


There is a bee working in my garden.
He is tenacious and doesn't skip a beat
while he flits from plant to plant.
"Bee, where can I find the words to describe
the women at Prescott College?"
I ask.
Bee responds without stopping his work,
"You must go to the flowers,
flowers are where beauty is born."

Following Bee's instructions
I go searching for flowers.
I come across a patch of white sandwort,
I kneel down close to investigate.
After several minutes of study,
I realize that I have never REALY
looked at flowers before.
Bee was right!
There is burden in the stem,
strength in the overies.
I can see care and compassion of the calyx,
There is determination in the stamen,
dignity in the pistil
and patience in the petals.

All these words are embodied in every one of you.
But there are times when these words seem to disappear
from our lives and the rest of the world.
The world will turn and turn again,
and continue to go through times of
war, oppression, cruelity and malice.
In these times of despair,
these words won't fully vanish.
Instead, they will just take tempurary refuge
in our hearts and in the beauty of the flowers.

-Lema