Poetry and A Video of A Happy Dog
Once, a little while ago woman stood facing me at the coffee shop. I hadn’t been led to go in immediately, so when I arrived inside on spirit’s cue, she was standing next to my husband and I instantly got a good vibe from her. I soon learned they were co-workers and they used to be on the equity team together, before all the non-white people quit. The black people quit. The Latinx people quit. The Irani woman quit. My husband quit. He is a beautiful tapestry of multiple lineages.
I immediately felt comfortable with this woman so after my husband mentioned they used to be on it together, I said, before I knew her name, “I heard it was bullshit.” I said it compassionately, but it was the only true way to describe the objective realities of what happened.
“Yes,” she said, “There was no equity. Everyone quit until it was just three white people left, I think.” As we talked, she shared how difficult it is for as a non-religious Irani woman, because, having an accent, people as, “Where are you from?” When she says, “Iran” they say, “Oh so you’re Muslim.” Which is kind of a weird thing to say in the first place, because why wouldn’t you just ask or not say anything at all? She went on, “I tell them, ‘No, I’m not religious.’ Of course I can’t admit that when I go home or I will be executed. But it’s hard that when everyone is talking about what is happening in the Middle East, when I try to speak about the 40,000 dead Palestinians, I feel that no one can hear me.”
“I hear you,” I said.
“I know you hear me.”
I told her, “I half Jewish and I’m a non-zionist half Jew, but if I say that, people say I’m not Jewish.”
The great irony is that before Israel was created, most Jewish people were non-zionist. The idea of conflating zionism with Jewish identity is a relatively recent phenomena. Zionism was not originally popular. Albert Einstein was went from being a soft zionist to being highly critical of zionism;
“See,” she said, “You get it.”
This woman actually reminded me a lot of another woman I know who is an Israeli-American who has always been strongly pro-Palestinian and has taken a lot of flack from her family in Israel, not to mention here. Even their accent was similar. They almost could have been twins. And they would get along great because their hearts and values are the same, yet the groups of belonging to which they cannot help but feel a connection have ostracized them for their very universal hearts.
Stand with. both of them. Do not pick sides, except the side of love which dares to speak the truth even if it’s risky; love that is committed to finding a way for all peoples to thrive, peacefully.
Shalom
Salaam
Om Mani Padme Hum
For my birthday, I asked for a Cedar of Lebanon.
Cedar, my indigenous friend says, is even better than sage or palo Santo to burn in order to shine in a way that pushes out the darkness.
We are here to shine as one human family, honoring our diverse lineages, and refusing to demonize one another.
We are one family.
Even when their leaders cavort
With evil consort
And the news does not report
That which supports
The truth that we are all friends and neighbors in disguise
Those who want to stay enemies do not want us to fraternize
And realize
We are all One
With Many Faces
From Many Places
Look at to the Heart
Where Divinity
Is a Universal Spark
God Beyond
God Within
Above
Below
To All Sides
An Infinite Star
Closer than the Breath
Farther than Far
I know we are all Love
And Some Day
We’ll say, “We’ve come so far”
To know our own self
Is the also the Self
Of One And All
Unique
Divine
God’s Valentine
I know you ARE
Every Heartwomb
Every Star
The Velvet
Black Space
From Which You Came
Different we are
Yet Also The Same
💚💚💚