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WE ARE A BODY DIVIDED. Our recent election was the collective dream of a body divided into red states vs blue states, cities vs rural areas, whites vs people of color, and lower income vs. upper income peoples. With each line we draw, we dis-member ourselves. With each line we draw, we fall deeper into the nightmare. We are body divided, dreaming. Smashed and shattered, cut off at the roots […]

“HE WON WITH A METAPHOR.” I pressed my hands against the air as if touching a surface. “He won with the image of a wall.” They looked at me, waiting for words to strike like a flint on reality, to spark a flash and make everything briefly visible. “We’re scared.” I walked to the stage’s edge. The audience was sparse but a classic New York crowd. A mix of everyone. […]

Eight years ago when Martin Leyva walked out of Chino State Prison, a guard told him: “We’ll leave the lights on for you…” insinuating that Leyva would be back. Instead, seven years later, Leyva walked across the stage to accept his bachelor’s degree in liberal arts/psychology from Antioch University in Santa Barbara. Leyva’s youth and early adulthood reflected the toughness and bravado he believed were required for survival. Dropping out […]

Mis estimados queridos, My Esteemed Ones: Do not lose heart. We were made for these times. I have heard from so many recently who are deeply and properly bewildered. They are concerned about the state of affairs in our world right now. It is true, one has to have strong cojones and ovarios to withstand much of what passes for “good” in our culture today. Abject disregard of what the […]