April in Myth
April is old like water, prehistoric, recycled. Womb and bladder.
To my Third World parched skin, she’s America, running the tap.
And now, in a foreign hottub, she mothers me, as if she
has it to spare. Water and muscles, air and my salty grief.
April has bloomed before, on schedule, sometimes an early surprise.
She has chased and she’s been cupped to the lips, been drunk in,
and done someone’s share of drinking. Me, too, always in August.
On April’s flesh, tears and kisses evaporate, leaving shine.
On mine, brine, crusty, leaving in cakes like the ice shelf.
I watch it go, with foreboding that natural disasters will result.
But water and her children won’t be possessed. In time,
she does the possessing, pooling foolish souls like shrimp,
pulling us through hurricanes and extinction and silence from space.
Mammoths, raccoons, wrens and Americans.
Like water, April is old, knows how to crest and trough, be a beating
organ of the beast, a good germ on the living planet.
Some herons are like pterodactyls pulled by hunger too far from shore.
There are fools and there are fish. Drink, says April.
Extinction breeds myth. And oh, what a magnetic myth we make.
—Wren Tuatha
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Back Office in Bloomfield
We’re on our second day of visiting my hometown Occupy, Louisville! We’ll combine it with visits to the Occupy in Lexington, the city of my birth. But our mornings of back office work are rural, at my family’s farm near Bloomfield, Kentucky. As I work away on emails and follow up phone calls, trying to [...]
Recircle Your Wagons: Buy Ins and Outcomes along the Occupy Highway
Now well into our second month of our official tour, C.T. and I are starting to revisit some Occupy sites and deepen our relationships with protesters as they try new meeting skills.
One of the paradigm shifts we are teaching is to avoid being outcome oriented. Consensus really blossoms when we’re not attached to a particular [...]
In C.T.’s Words…
Suddenly, consensus is on the world stage. The worldwide Occupy movement is committed to the process of consensus decisionmaking. The use of consensus at the regular General Assembly (GA) is widespread. While the degree of consistency varies from Occupy to Occupy, generally, there is a deep and lasting commitment to the democratic ideal that “all [...]
Donate $100 by Switching to CREDO Before Dec. 31!
Everyone we meet wants to support our work, bringing consensus training to the Occupys, but times are hard. So we’re always on the look out for creative ways that people can donate.
House parties are a great way to multiply your donation times the number of friends who gather together on short notice. This usually involves [...]
Flavors of a Flash Tour
I wish I had the time and energy for a proper post. There is so much to share of our tour of Boston, Philadelphia and Wall Street Occupys. But I have a raging sinus infection and we’re on a plane at 6 a.m. for Chico, California!
So let a few random pictures stand in for now. [...]
Unions Tell City Hands Off Occupy Baltimore
Cheers to the unions for stepping up in strong support of Occupy Baltimore in the face of the city’s plans to clear our encampment! Note that the Fraternal Order of Police are among the signatories:
“Dear Mayor Rawlings-Blake:
We have been made aware of the city of Baltimore’s intention to close down the Occupy Baltimore [...]
How Did Hippie Chick Diaries Become Occupy Diaries? (Part One)
I’m on quite a magic carpet ride, I have to say. Three weeks ago, my partner C.T. Butler and I were quietly working from home. We were assembling a book proposal for C.T.’s memoir of the early years of Food Not Bombs. We had hopes that such a book could help us promote the historic [...]
Updated Press Release
*****FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*****
UPDATE: CITY DEFERS OCCUPY BALTIMORE PERMIT REQUEST, SUGGESTS
COMPROMISE; OCCUPATION CALLS FOR PUBLIC SUPPORT
Occupy Baltimore has been peacefully gathering in McKeldin Square on
the corner of Pratt & Light Streets since October 4th, 2011. Today
marks the start of the fourth week of the encampment. Early last week,
after pressure from the Baltimore City police department and [...]
Urgent Call to Solidarity: Join Occupy Baltimore This Wednesday, October 26, 2011
From Wren:
Occupy Baltimore has received an ironically named “permission document” from the city. It seeks to end our occupy presence by essentially prohibiting tents and overnight camping, and by squeezing all our functions into a little seen corner of the park.
To show our true numbers, Occupy Baltimore urgently calls on all of our supporters [...]
