Celeste Writings
An Alchemist
I am lying in bed
Imagining the email
I will send to Dollar Rent-a-car
About Alvin, who drives
"The Love Bus"
You can tell it's special right off
He cares for us
Gives us maps of Chicagoland
Something unusual about the music
I like it
He tells us he will sing for us
He sings Lou Rawls "Lady Love"
Accapella
I wonder if the other passengers appreciate it
When I see the couple across from me.
He is moved. He reaches toward her
Interlaces his fingers with hers
Saying without words that she is his 'lady love'
The magic is working on everyone
I am immersed in musical romance
Provided by Alvin
I want the shuttle ride to go on and on
And it works.
Even though I'm scrapingly short on cash
I happily give Alvin a tip
Thankful for his creation
But what was I telling you before that
As i imagine the words in the letter to Dollar
I realize that I am truly an alchemist
I can transform experience
Into words
It is truly a gift
Truly a responsiblity
To be able to tell you
About Alvin and the Love Bus
Messy, Yet Majestic!
It seems to me the world is becoming democratic against the best efforts of all and sundry to prevent it: intellectuals touting themselves as the idea saviors of the world – above and beyond us all, artists insisting only the privileged have the intellectual capacity to appreciate them, politicians promoting their own self-interest thinly veiled as patriotism, religious zealots promoting their take on the nature and dictates of the Source at the cost of innumerable lives and equity on all sides.
The world is becoming democratic century by century, life by life, because it is the most moral system yet devised by humans for social concourse.
What?
Democracy makes the best use of all human resources available. It promotes the health and development of the individual in an environment of equitable, rational discourse. It takes everyone seriously, requires them to live up to their potential, take responsibility, make choices.
In the past, all our concepts of what was moral – good/bad -- were geared to producing exclusive groups set apart, above, beyond all others, to handing absolute rule to one person, one savior, one concept. Of necessity, the rest – humanity and the entire biosphere -- had to be defined as less, unwashed, stupid, incapable of self-knowledge, self-rule.
Now, concepts of what is moral are slowly being geared to produce inclusiveness, fit everyone together in a seamless whole, discover how everyone can best work together to produce a life that feels just, equitable, and comfortable to us all.
I love living in these times!
In conclusion...
I always thought it was very convenient and safe to have flat floors and sidewalks to walk on. But then I found out that, according to someone who writes articles about yoga, the fact that we walk on flat floors limits our skeletal and muscular responsiveness.
If we were walking on uneven surfaces all the time, our spines and everything would be infinitely adjustable and flexible. All of a sudden I feel abused by all this urban surface flatness. One more oppression I must endure. Of course it is totally necessary if one uses a wheelchair. Perhaps a sacrifice it's reasonable to ask the able-bodied to make. I'm wondering how to make my world less flat, and yearning to stimulate my body's infinite flexibility with stepping on uneven surfaces, when I realize that high heels aren't as bad as I have always thought. I have observed many a female heel, many a beautiful female ankle teetering and oscillating to find that balance which is necessary to find in every step when you are wearing those tiny little pointed heels. I always saw that as abusive, but now I realize that wearing high heels is women's secret way of keeping their feet and ankles and tendons and muscles infinitely sensitive and resilient and exquisitely flexible. Drag queens are in on this. Everyone knows it is a special skill, you even have to practice to do it. I used to think high heels might be good only for some 5 minutes right before sex starts, just for visual purposes since men are so visual. But now I want those sensitized feet, purposely walking on uneven, difficult surfaces. I want my tendons to be forced to find a precarious balance in every feminine step. I realize they make shoes with uneven bottoms, probably for just this purpose, wavy soles or knobbly insoles. I guess I could buy a pair of those. But they're not very sexy. I think I will go out and buy a pair of really high heels, with points small enough to dent all the floors I walk on. That is how I will leave my mark.
