“Then Beauty is its own excuse for being”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, excerpt from “The Rhodora”

It was a morning mood of needing very much to be in the green leaf comfort of the sheltering woods. I stopped at my gong chime and rang it and walked out into the fresh morning, alone, with both the dogs. Yes, it’s a special time when Suzi joins us, and today she did, trotted cheerfully along in front of me. She swam in the brook. I had not slept well, awake and anxious. Woke that way. I used all my disciplines, and the woods cleared my mind and heart in the lovely way. The wild azalea in the wetlands was looking for me. It found me, full bloom, white blossoms thrusting into my awareness. I have seen them here, every year, these almost hidden, fabulous blooms. I took many deep and cleansing breaths along my way. The birds, everywhere, making a noise I wanted to hear, out of my own head. At home, before going inside, I relaxed with the hose, watering my four garden areas where everything has shot into bloom but the peonies are passing and the weeds are growing. And I will be glad to get a morning of just weeding this week.

I worked on the poems from letters. First, one, and then, I realized, it wasn’t the one I wanted to bring. I worked on another, and knew I had nailed it. And then, I led the sixth and last session of my first six-month Aim for Astonishing webinar, it was a reschedule from last week, and I had done most of my prep. What a delightful session it was. The writing and camaraderie that have developed – so remarkable the bond that was formed and the confidence and support that was shared. I didn’t want to say goodbye. I have since launchd my second six month session, and will launch my third in a few weeks. Tonight, my poem was really appreciated. I got lots of feedback. No need to change a word. Someone has spray painted the old rails next to the railroad tracks with Black Lives Matter graffiti. I caught a clip on the news this morning that I watched, wanting to understand: why did Rayshard Brooks have to die in Atlanta? Was the policeman who shot and killed him justified? He had fallen asleep in his car in a Wendy’s take-out line. Strange. Problematic. Possibly under the influence of alcohol, certainly. Breaking the law? Maybe. Resisting arrest? Apparently. Why? Why do black men resist arrest when they do resist? Because they have no reason to expect to be treated safely and fairly by white police officers.

Asked why Brooks ran, family attorney L. Chris Stewartsuggested he may have feared for his life.

"They put George Floyd in handcuffs, and he was subsequently killed," Stewart said. "So just getting put in handcuffs if you're African American doesn't mean, 'Oh, you're going to get nicely taken to the back of a police car.'"

[https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/rayshard-brooks-police-shooting-1.5612117]

So, yes, he resisted. He grabbed the officer’s taser, in fact. But a taser is not a deadly weapon. He was running away, and he was shot in the back, twice. Would a white man have been shot in the back for running away? I don’t believe so. Why couldn’t the white officer let him go? He had Rayshard’s car in his possession, he certainly could have found him, arrested him later.

Atlanta Mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, said, "It was clear that we do not have another day, another minute, another hour, to waste," she said, adding the police must find better ways to handle confrontations.”

[https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/rayshard-brooks-police-shooting-1.5612117]

I am looking into my blind spots.