off the off the of the

oh geez summer is shattering open in so many directions,
$10 in my checking account, kazoo in my pock-ette,
looking out over this garden, these red-hot poker flowers roses and hills of competing doug firs and cedars and white oaks and maples--
discomfort is a sign of a learning edge, a rich place to dig into
i love learning so i find myself on the edge of discomfort a lot.
the wind is singing and i'm learning to translate
for the fire's licks and the groaning of this dry red soil.
i've been around the siskiyous for the past month now, never thought i'd find myself in a place like this--this dry and brittle harbor, rich and seductive and secretive hills where craziness is an edge to dance along. we the firepeople waiting for the fire, scrambling strolling in this age of consuming forces and summer sun. getting downloads and uploads from the spirit channel; this land talks loudly in a thousand voices, a thousand thousand marrowed ancestors.
oh, to be a blade of grass. oh, to be a sharp knife. oh, to be an eagle chasing a rabbit--
for now.
back to portland tomorrow--more soon.

We are the motley colored crew
having taken generation after generation
and search after search
so many years
to gather here today

we represent all heritages, all families
all broken lineages and lost stories
all sufferings, denials, attempts at annihilation
and eternal quests for freedom

we are philipino
we date back to the nordic
we are related to the holocaust
our european grandmothers were silenced at stakes
our  hiv brothers died so they could love
in africa our family has starved

and we are still living
and we are still yearning
as we seek each other out
and unite across all our freak-fested differences
that we love, that we celebrate

and we do the work to overcome the next boundaries
those that say how we should express our innermost essence
and who we should love

and we try to remember
the language of the land
so that we may love her
so that we may finally take care of ourselves and each other

so that we may go home.

this has never happened before.