Pentecost (in Ordinary Time)

This poem hit me yesterday while on a visit to Staten Island. It's still in rough draft form, and I'm open to constructive criticism. (If you're unsure what the technical terms "Pentecost" and "Ordinary Time" mean, check out this lovely blog.)

Pentecost (in Ordinary Time)

Leaping from the top balcony
Of the highrise housing project,
The white plastic bag knew
It had a job to do.
Nose pointed downward,
Wings spread in a fluttering V,
It soared over trees and steeples –
Dipped at an intersection –
But rose again, and again,
Until the target shapes adorning
Its side seemed to focus
And it dove, like a dove,
Into the playground at recess.
A dozen languages surrounded it
As it landed, hard,
And yelled, “Bullseye!”

(c) 2009, Rachel Small

Playing Catch-Up

So.... I haven't blogged in a long time. I've probably lost all my readers by now. Sorry about that, if any of you are still following me (Please comment if you do read this, so I know that I have a reason to keep writing!). Here's the quick recap of the last six months:

**I spent the summer going to and perfoming wedding ceremonies of many friends. It was lovely! It gave me lots of good experience, and it was such a fun honor to be part of such an important moment in their lives.

**I AM GOING TO BE ORDAINED! The long-term dream is finally coming to fruition. My church called me to a larger position, which allowed me to be eligible for ordination. So, I'm not changing jobs, but I am changing titles and getting more pay. I'll also be able to do weddings legally now!

**We're moving. Probably to Queens. It's a long story, but we need to leave our apartment at our lease's end at the end of this month. So, our weekends are filled with packing and the horrible ordeal of apt. hunting in NYC.

So there you go. Those are the biggies. I hope to blog more, but please be gentle if I don't!

Love to you all!
Rachel

Location, Location, Location

I've changed my location to Tehran, Iran. Apparently Iranian officials are trying to crack down on bloggers. The more people who register as Iranian, the harder it will be to find the real bloggers. Here's hoping I can do a little to help.

Suddenly I'm so grateful to live in this country!
Rachel

An Ode for the Ride to the Upper West Side

The silvery, slippery, slidery snake
Pulls up to the platform and puffs as it breaks.
It whisks us away in a whispery roar,
Digests us for dinner, then belches for more.

It ricks and it rattles, and clacks on the tracks,
Tosses us every which way and back.
It rumbles and bumbles and shakes in the night,
'Twixt devilish darkness and flashes of light.

Musicians moan and beggars jangle,
Yet the monster groans on, its wheels a-clangle.
Toddlers sing and babies scream,
Old men cough and young teens preen.

The raucous cacophanous clatter abounds,
My ears nearly drowning beneath all the sounds,
Yet despite every boisterous, bothersome bleep,
Somehow, I, subtlely, slide into sleep...

CANCER FREE!!

The biopsy results came back, finally. All I know is that a nurse called me to say I don't have cancer. Hopefully I'll find out what I DO have tomorrow at my dr. appt. Hooray!!

Still waiting, still recovering

I'm back to work now, but I'm finding that I'm still not up to top speed. I am totally exhausted at the end of the day, and crave nothing but sleep.

We still do not have news about my biopsy. I will call again tomorrow. It's been more than two weeks, and my extensive well of patience is beginning to run a little dry.

The scar is healing nicely, but my smile is not yet improving. I still think it looks awful and am very self-conscious, although most people tell me they didn't even notice.

Here's a really cute picture of Angel, one of our two cats, playing nurse while I was in bed post-surgery. She can be a pest, but she can also be the sweetest kitty in the world. That day, she might as well have been candy-coated.

Yeehaw!!

GO, NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY!! They passed the same-sex marraige bill in the NY State Assembly, 89-52! Now it's on to the senate, where the balance is going to be much more difficult. We're not sure we have enough votes yet. I wrote my senator today. Feel free to send some notes of support along, too!

More here from the New York Times

And from the gay advocacy group, the Human Rights Campaign.

And you can write to state senators using the Empire Pride Agenda's website.

I really like the Empire Pride Agenda's new commercial, which states pretty simply how fair it is to allow same-sex marriage:



You can also donate to HRC or Empire Pride, which are both working really, really hard for our rights!

Hooray! Let the momentum roll on!