Moon Bond

 

The moon – 

ever changing yet ever constant.

The overlooking mother.

In darkest sky is when her glow

is brightest on the earth below.

Moods respond to cyclic phases.

Blood currents shift in ebb and flow.

Tidal powers from long ago.

The moon – 

which drew me from my mother's womb,

now re-unites us in the night.

In darkest sky she'll always shine

upon my mother's face and mine.

And though apart, we are as one

where space and time just fall away.

And even when the night is done,

the comfort lingers all the day.

Note: after moving to British Columbia, at the end of each phone call with my mother she would say, "Ok ... now after we hang up, go look at the moon and I will too.  We will both be seeing it at the same time".

(From the book Discoveries In The Dark by Doris Potter)

© Doris Potter

Misassembly

 

Always follow assembly instructions carefully!

International Women's Day 2023 Let's Be Radical

 (This is best viewed on a computer)

I received the following from Vicki Van Linden, Board Member of Animal Alliance of Canada in an email today and was struck by the power of this woman's arguments and the poetry of her words.  I received permission to reproduce it here.

International Women’s Day is here again. And again, we see that women around the world are under threat. Women are still exploited, trafficked, abused, and denied basic human rights in too many nations. Even in westernized nations like our own, women are still underpaid, subjected to violence, and under-represented in positions of power.   There has been progress, but not nearly enough. And as we see unfolding in the United States, hard-won progress can be lost, far more easily than we might have imagined. This is what it means to be vulnerable. This is what it means to be impacted by political and economic systems that have been designed to favour groups that have been traditionally more powerful, more privileged.   Now, let’s consider the plight of the most vulnerable of beings, non-human animals. Beings who can never advocate for themselves. Can never march on Parliament. Can never go on strike. Can never vote.   Let’s consider too the extra burden of being a female animal who is exploited and confined in the animal agriculture industry. All animals suffer in animal agriculture, but surely female animals suffer more. It’s hens who are confined in cages so that their eggs can be sold to humans. It’s cows who are used in the dairy industry so that the milk that should nurture their own young is sold to humans. It’s mother pigs who endure the cruel confinement of gestation and farrowing crates so that the flesh of their babies can be sold to humans. We can widen our circle of compassion every day, including International Women’s Day, to include female animals who endure exploitation because of their reproductive abilities. It takes nothing away from women, does not lessen our resolve to stand by our own human sisters, to include these other female beings in our advocacy and care. Recognizing and acting to end the suffering of others draws on our compassion, enhances our activism, strengthens our commitment to promote equity, and ultimately makes the world a better place for all. We can work for the liberation of all animals while we support the full emancipation of human persons, regardless of gender. We can commit ourselves to working toward equity for all humans as well as all non-humans. We can ‘walk and chew gum’ in our activism. The complete liberation of all animals is considered radical by people engaged in animal-using industries. The liberation of animals is too radical for some, and certainly not easy to achieve. But every progressive social movement has been considered too radical. Every social movement that sought to advance equity aroused anger, even revulsion, in the early stages of its development.   International Women’s Day has its roots in the socialist movement of the early twentieth century in the United States. According to an article in National Geographic, a Russian refugee, labour organizer, and member of the Socialist Party of America named Theresa Malkiel, declared the first ‘National Women’s Day’ in 1909. European socialists later embraced the idea, and ‘International Women’s Day’ was born. In 1917, during World War I, Russian women marked International Women’s Day by marching to oppose Russia’s participation in the war, and to protest the shortage of food. The women’s march inspired men to join, and a massive workers’ strike soon followed. This women’s march is seen by many historians as the beginning of the Russian Revolution. Revolution. Socialism. These are radical roots indeed. Those of us who are women owe the improved status that we do enjoy to the work of people like Theresa Malkiel. We owe our very ability to vote to the suffragettes who endured persecution so that women could participate in electoral politics. We owe our improved opportunities to women who were often reviled and treated as unnatural aberrations in the earlier stages of the Women’s Movement of the twentieth century. These women were radical. And they were mocked and persecuted for being so.   We, too, can be radical. We can state with bravery that we want nothing less than the complete liberation of our fellow sentient beings, the non-human animals who have inherent value as independent beings whose lives belong to themselves. I’m inviting you to be radical with us. Let’s resolve to do all we can to drive our movement for animals forward, to work for nothing less than their complete liberation. Let’s share a day that is dedicated to human women, and fully embrace working for our sisters, and ourselves, and also embrace our non-human fellow beings within our circle of compassion. Through my involvement with Animal Alliance of Canada, I have seen again and again that it is financial interests that so often work against animals. Hunting generates license fees for provincial governments, and profit for commercial businesses. Animal research is used by manufacturers of products to generate wealth. Animal agriculture uses the very bodies of animals as units of profit. Exploitation is profitable. But exploitation causes suffering. So, let’s be radical and work toward a world where vulnerable beings, human and non-human, are no longer exploited. Is such a compassionate world possible? I can’t say. But I do say with certainty that our world can be better. And that in itself is a radical, and worthy, idea.

Night Air

The perfumed night air is heavy with mystery and promise.

I inhale its fragrance deeply into my lungs as if to fill my

soul with its essence.

What stirrings are these?

Haloed clouds drift by the moon and I am transfixed.

It is a delicious loneness –

not a loneliness of despair or disconnection –

but a loneness, a oneness

where the universe is drawn inside me

until my body contains it all.

All the stars, the seas,

and the long stretching land –

nothing remains apart.

The night air,

with all its dark and lofty secrets,

with all its heady magic,

makes this be.

1996

(from the book Discoveries In The Dark by Doris Potter)

© Doris Potter

Surrender

I gaze into soft brown eyes that smile

as warm hands hold me, melt me.

Slowly ... slowly the clothing falls away

and I am left exposed – delighting in

           my nakedness, in the desire in

           your eyes.

Your kisses reach inside me; touch me

            in wonderful places; soft, quiet

            places of my soul.

Your gentle hands stroke my face, cradle

            my face ...

And my body opens to you, ready and longing

            for your touch.

And you fulfill me – as I gaze into your eyes.

It is you:  your hands; your tongue; your presence –

That bring me to such heights –

             to such delights.

1980

(from the book Discoveries In The Dark by Doris Potter)

© Doris Potter

Survivor

At the flower shop she made her choice.

She'd found the one with nicest bloom.

In her expertise she did rejoice,

This plant would glorify her room.

And then at home, a fine surprise!

Beneath the leaves was another shoot

That had escaped her searching eyes

And defiantly had taken root.

She was intrigued, and marvelled at

This little plant – what could he be?

Exotic species? no doubt about that!

Unique and special she could see.

She named him "Survivor", and sought to tell

His story to all who saw him there.

She watched him grow and thrive so well –

A testament to her skillful care.

And then one day, she learned that he

Was a common weed that had taken root

In another's pot – and shamefully

She'd mistaken him for a special shoot.

"Survivor", she thought, was her claim to fame

But her judgment of him had been too rash.

In the end he had only brought her shame.

She threw him away with the trash.

1999

(From the book Discoveries In The Dark by Doris Potter)

© Doris Potter

Winter Descent

       She struggles forward – her head bent low

       Buffeted by winds and blowing snow.

         Deep drifts and gusts erase her path,

           She vainly battles winter's wrath.

             Strength is lost with every step.

               Finally, there's nothing left.

                 Laying down her head

                   On a snowy bed

                     So soft and deep

                       Inviting sleep.

2019

(From the book Discoveries In The Dark by Doris Potter)

© Doris Potter