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A poetic conversation with poets, Robin Hiersche, Darcie Ziel, David Wiley, Dennis O'Donnell.

	
	
Crawl Inside

Judgment comes from within,
not from without.
I'm not here for that,
not to remove that privilege from your hands.
expressive, soft, hesitant
the graceful length of them 
stirs up heat in my core.
But for all of their touching, what have you felt?
Oh, to crawl inside of you,
Warm, and dark, to know you,
or, rather, to be you.
What I possess now: a collection of impressions:
your hands existing between us on a table,
your frame silhouetted against the window 
in a bright room.
the closeness of our faces
your soft lips against my cheek
laughing eyes
intermingling sweat, and the contour 
of your ribs under my grasp
the expression of distance in your eyes
when you go somewhere that I can't come
and the openness there when you invite me in.
Hundreds of images
pasting down my experience of you.
That's why I'm here,
to share with you
to taste your hands, to touch your tongue
to crawl inside.
There are lots of things I like,
don't condemn me to be your judge.
I'm not you,
And that's not why we're here.

Dennis O'Donnell

	

I am afraid
                                            
I am afraid
of the linoleum,
the way it lies
so flat and so smooth
like the belly of a serpent

I am afraid
of the guts of the toilet,
and I know that they move
differently
when I replace the lid

I am afraid
of the bank teller,
behind the impregnable glass,
smiling, thinking,
you poor slob

I am afraid 
of the boat motor,
putt putt putting away,
burning the gas
so I can die of exposure

I am afraid
of the double axe,
that extra blade
obviously
not meant for the wood.

I am afraid
of the electric guitar,
shocking me
with a cartoon lightning bolt
that exposes my bones

I am afraid 
of the curves in the road,
of what they are hiding
behind well placed trees
and mountainsides

I am afraid
 of Jack Benny,
grinning,
waiting for the joke
to land

I am afraid 
of the light socket

I am afraid
of the end.

David Wiley

	
	
The Orient

The old man who sold hats,
with a thousand lines per square inch
connecting the vast regions of his face,
might have come, we used to think,
from another planet, or at least
from another time on Earth.

First of all, we couldn't understand his words,
although people said he spoke our language.
it was a trick, like doubletalk,
nodding and grinning, two sets of eyes,
one set focused on something far away
that none of us could ever hope to see.

He seemed to be surrounded by a nimbus,
a color never seen in comic books,
and in the trail of the glow a sound
like music gently pursued him;.
Each of his teeth was a tiny statue,
one make of gold, all the rest ivory.

During the year of the autumn flood
the old man disappeared, swallowed,
someone said, by a giant carp.
the little stand on Main Street
where he sold his hats was left alone
shrinelike in it's emptiness;
and as people passed they often stopped
to look, and even, unaware, to slightly bow.

Robin Hiersche

	
	To Fall In Love With A Poet
	
let me tell you 
a thing or two

it's always a bad idea
to fall in love with a poet,
who, just for her personal amusement
will say anything she knows
 will turn you on
and worst of all,
really knows how to put it out.

it's always a terrible, 
self destructive choice, 
and if you can choose otherwise,
you'd be a lot better off.
I'd say, run
as fast as you can
in any direction
except, of course
the direction in which
lies the poet.

she will be waiting with curious arms,
legs, mouth, mind and heart,
which you must understand
for her,  are all
renewable resources.

It's always a bad idea
to listen to a poet,
and especially dangerous
to read the poems written to you,
which is the equivalent
of being unwittingly fed
bacon
when you are a pig,
or eggs, when you are a chicken.

you are entirely better off
with a waitress or a schoolteacher
someone who will make a matrimonial deal
you can at least understand.
Flat out gold ring prostitutes
are a better trade for your time.
Of this you will become painfully aware
when you wake up for the forty millionth time
alone, 
knowing she isn't.


it's a very bad idea
to believe in a poet,
who tells lies to anyone
who asks for them,
compassionate, fantastic,
hilarious lies
about everything, all the time, 
everywhere,
to everyone---as usual, 
not just you, even in this.

 truth, beauty, life, love
the Divine; whatever;
but the poet will have a 
secret name for all of that
that you can not grasp
quickly enough ---
like water 
flowing through your hands
when your mouth is parched.

finally you will go to her
and say I really understand now,
my hands can hold all of you
and all of me is in your hands---
this simply is
we simply are
it's only we.

the poet laughs,
her voice rippling over 
the present tense 
of the verb to be
the first person 
singular

and steals one last kiss...
consuming
all
the air.

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Women Exceptional Women are Our History and Our Future:

Women

International Women's Day March 8

You already know, I hope, that these pages support those who help women. One of our favorite groups carrying out that work is PeaceXPeace. They, too, feature exceptional women. ~Georgia

International Women's Day has been observed since in the early 1900's, a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies.

1908
Great unrest and critical debate was occurring amongst women. Women's oppression and inequality was spurring women to become more vocal and active in campaigning for change. Then in 1908, 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights.

1909
In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman's Day (NWD) was observed across the United States on 28 February. Women continued to celebrate NWD on the last Sunday of February until 1913.

1910
In 1910 a second International Conference of Working Women was held in Copenhagen. A woman named a Clara Zetkin (Leader of the 'Women's Office' for the Social Democratic Party in Germany) tabled the idea of an International Women's Day. She proposed that every year in every country there should be a celebration on the same day - a Women's Day - to press for their demands. The conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, representing unions, socialist parties, working women's clubs, and including the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament, greeted Zetkin's suggestion with unanimous approval and thus International Women's Day was the result.

1911
Following the decision agreed at Copenhagen in 1911, International Women's Day (IWD) was honoured the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on 19 March. More than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women's rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination. However less than a week later on 25 March, the tragic 'Triangle Fire' in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working women, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This disastrous event drew significant attention to working conditions and labour legislation in the United States that became a focus of subsequent International Women's Day events. 1911 also saw women's 'Bread and Roses' campaign.

1913-1914
On the eve of World War I campaigning for peace, Russian women observed their first International Women's Day on the last Sunday in February 1913. In 1913 following discussions, International Women's Day was transferred to 8 March and this day has remained the global date for International Wommen's Day ever since. In 1914 further women across Europe held rallies to campaign against the war and to express women's solidarity.

1917
On the last Sunday of February, Russian women began a strike for "bread and peace" in response to the death over 2 million Russian soldiers in war. Opposed by political leaders the women continued to strike until four days later the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote. The date the women's strike commenced was Sunday 23 February on the Julian calendar then in use in Russia. This day on the Gregorian calendar in use elsewhere was 8 March.

1918 - 1999
Since its birth in the socialist movement, International Women's Day has grown to become a global day of recognition and celebration across developed and developing countries alike. For decades, IWD has grown from strength to strength annually. For many years the United Nations has held an annual IWD conference to coordinate international efforts for women's rights and participation in social, political and economic processes. 1975 was designated as 'International Women's Year' by the United Nations. Women's organisations and governments around the world have also observed IWD annually on 8 March by holding large-scale events that honour women's advancement and while diligently reminding of the continued vigilance and action required to ensure that women's equality is gained and maintained in all aspects of life.

2000 and beyond
IWD is now an official holiday in China, Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The tradition sees men honouring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc with flowers and small gifts. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of Mother's Day where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.

The new millennium has witnessed a significant change and attitudinal shift in both women's and society's thoughts about women's equality and emancipation. Many from a younger generation feel that 'all the battles have been won for women' while many feminists from the 1970's know only too well the longevity and ingrained complexity of patriarchy. With more women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of women's visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women have gained true equality. The unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women's education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men.

However, great improvements have been made. We do have female astronauts and prime ministers, school girls are welcomed into university, women can work and have a family, women have real choices. And so the tone and nature of IWD has, for the past few years, moved from being a reminder about the negatives to a celebration of the positives.

On 8 March, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate achievements. A global web of rich and diverse local activity connects women from all around the world ranging from political rallies, business conferences, government activities and networking events through to local women's craft markets, theatric performances, fashion parades and more.

Many global corporations have also started to more actively support IWD by running their own internal events and through supporting external ones. For example, on 8 March search engine and media giant Google some years even changes its logo on its global search pages. Year on year IWD is certainly increasing in status. The United States even designates the whole month of March as 'Women's History Month'.

So make a difference, think globally and act locally !! Make everyday International Women's Day. Do your bit to ensure that the future for girls is bright, equal, safe and rewarding.

Reprinted from PeaceXPeace. Please visit their site and help them continue their work for women worldwide.

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