Words and things

Black people can – and cannot – be racist!

i have found that racism definitions can often create a bit of a problem... Can a black person be racist? Yes, absolutely. And also, no, not at all!  This question comes up a lot and i'm not sure i have actually answered it on my blog but i thought it might be helpful to at least give it a try. This is how i understand this question. Two Definitions The biggest problem which i [...]

By |2021-02-02T11:19:13+02:00February 2nd, 2021|Justice, South Africa, tricky things, Words and things|3 Comments

Political Correctness – Have we gone too far? Or not far enough?

What are your thoughts when it comes to Political Correctness? Seriously though, before you read on, take a few moments to answer that question. i doubt this is something many people need to think long about because people tend towards the extremes on this one. "It is out of control" vs "We could be doing so much better." What does Political Correctness mean? To you? When you hear the term, what immediately comes to [...]

The importance of ‘anti-racist’

Does the term 'anti-racist' sit well with you? i admit that any term that defines someone as something they're not or something they're against feels unwieldy to me. This is why i come out so strongly against the term 'non-white'. It puts white people in the middle as the norm or accepted or perfect thing and then distances anyone who is called non-white away from that. As if whiteness is normal or right or [...]

Poem: They hide

Another of the poems i wrote in the Philippines. This one was inspired by these incredible tiny almost see-through crabs that ran around on the beach where we were staying. They moved super fast and they were really small and literally almost transparent and so there was more the idea of them than the creature itself. They fascinated me and got me thinking about people on social media... They hide in crevices In holes, [...]

By |2020-03-10T11:04:39+02:00March 10th, 2020|poems and other creativity, Words and things|0 Comments

Poem: The Our Creator

One morning in the Philippines, i was meditating on the traditionally labelled 'Lord's Prayer' that Jesus teaches His disciples and just started scribing my own version. Just kinda happened. When i told Val later that's what i had done, she had on the same day without any kind of connection with me done exactly the same thing. So we read our prayers to each other and this is mine: Our Fathe... Creator! Our Creator! [...]

By |2020-03-10T11:07:25+02:00March 9th, 2020|poems and other creativity, Words and things|0 Comments

Poem: Word Splay

This poem is something very different and nothing i have tried before. Each line has one word that has been changed to a word that sounds or looks like the expected word, but that still somehow conveys meaning to the piece. Even the lines that seem absurd, if you give them a bit of thought work on different levels. i didn't set out to make a poem like this. i started with the first [...]

By |2020-03-10T08:30:56+02:00March 4th, 2020|poems and other creativity, Words and things|0 Comments

Poem: Instagrave

Eye glued to a box in the most beautiful setting on earth Hands nailed to a stick as you move to ensure the light is just right Finger stuck to record a historic moment you missed And will not likely watch again, for the first time The sun goes down and all you're left with are 1's and 0's And the memory of what might have been If only you'd paid it any sort [...]

By |2020-03-04T13:48:36+02:00March 2nd, 2020|poems and other creativity, Words and things|0 Comments

Poem: The cabin

Beneath my Doubt lies the missing piece of a jigsaw puzzle Just about out of reach. Where Certainty used to rest, There now stands a rocking chair That patiently listens to my stuttering questions Before nodding in an almost hypnotic refrain. Hanging behind my fears are the What ifs All tangled up as one with the What if nots A wretched knot of impossibilities and probabilities Each masquerading as the other. I can just [...]

By |2020-03-02T11:48:15+02:00February 26th, 2020|poems and other creativity, Words and things|0 Comments
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