#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream
Frog Pond
After so many days of unrelenting, lovely sunshine, I wake into clouds and the rain on the way. The yard is ravaged, fresh green leaves torn and blown all over the ground. Before walking, I work on a new draft of the Elija McClain poem I drafted last night. My daughter walks with me and both the dogs. We start at my gardens, surveying the damage; not too much. But her vegetable garden is hard hit by the hail; it tore through leaf after leaf of her young plants. She is philosophic and accepting and hopeful: she believes the plants will recover in sunshine soon and be glad for the soaking. And she also knows this is what it is to garden, these are the terms. We walk along the river. Suzi doesn’t want to cross the trestle bridge with us this morning, and so, we accept this too and turn back. I suggest an early swim before the storm, and so we drive to my friend’s dock, and descend to the shore under clouds with the dogs, and then there is a rumble of thunder. We turn back. No swim for me today, the first time in days. And then the roaring storm flares up while I work at my computer and the lightning flashing fiercely through the daylight. Poor Charlie is miserable with the thunder. My youngest and her boyfriend left last night, moved much of their stuff, not all of it, back to their apartment. But then she is back because she is in a True Story Theater performance on Zoom tonight and needs the computer and office room for her performance. Which we attend online, and it’s a very powerful show about stories of recovery and resilience. She is at one end of the house performing, and we’re watching her from the other end of the house on Zoom. After dinner, before her performance, I watch a terrible video:
I didn’t watch the body cam video of Elija McClain’s arrest until tonight. It made me feel physically ill. He weighed 140 pounds. Someone called to report him as a sketchy person walking down the street. A plastic bag from a convenience store is swinging from his hand. For no reason, the police surround him, order him to stop. He ends up in a chokehold. It’s disgusting and heart breaking. And he is incredibly powerful to watch. How he keeps his dignity; fights for his right to be a young man walking innocently down the street; fights for his right to not be stopped, manhandled and arrested for no reason. I watch the video with the clarity of what’s happening. How he in every moment of this incident is fighting for his right to live.
