ashley and i lean
into the butcher block while
cracking pecans from half-shattered shells
banana pecan chocolate chip pancakes not far
in our future
_______
smell of honey-lemon
(with ginger) simmering
on six-burner stove
_______
darien calls the color saffron
in zim’s fabric aisle
_______
i work my way
with orange-handled scissors
through three times seven yards
(sixty three feet total) of fabric
slicing 2-inch strips
for maypole ribbons
in colors that make me think of
buddhist monk robes
(bright orange
saffron
maroonish-purple-red
_______
what look like tresses
(of aforementioned ribbons)
draped over chairs
and piling/curling onto floor
_______
mica reads from a golden guide book
about the life cycle of moss
_______
after assembling (small operation)
the jet pack sprayer (to fill with clay or b.t.
in order to keep pests off certain crops)
i sling it over my shoulders and say
i’m off! standing at the door
(pretending it’s a jetsons-style jet pack
and i’m about to zip around in outer space)
_______
there’s variation in the darkness mica says
shading in the green days on the
may page of the farm’s blank sketchbook calendar
_______
in the knuckle tattoo game of chance
(one person thinks of one 4-letter word and writes it on one hand
of the tattoo recipient with a sharpie
and another person thinks of another 4-letter word
and writes it on the knuckles of the other hand of the recipient
and the magic of chance, upon putting both hands together and reading, is revealed) :
TRUE ECHOSOCK BIRD
TUFF PELT
FIRE GALE
ROCK CORE
SLOW TIDE
_______
may day (and water world collide)
A man tries to protects himself as security forces beat him during the International Workers’ Day rally at Freedom Park in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Authorities broke up a protest of garment workers and opposition party supporters who rallied to celebrate the Labor Day despite the government’s ban on public assemblies. – voice of america, day in photos
A woman shows her identity card next to another protester as riot police use water cannons during clashes after hundreds of people tried to reach the city’s main Kizilay Square to celebrate May Day in Ankara, Turkey. – voice of america, day in photos
An Indian fisherman casts his net into the Mohanadi River near Munduli, some 30 kms away from Bhubaneswar. As the water level of the Mohanadi River and other rivers start to recede due to increasing temperatures, villagers living nearby turn to fishing to meet their consumption needs.– voice of america, day in photos
African migrants walk along a border fence between Morocco and Spain’s north African enclave of Melilla.- bbc, day in photos
Meanwhile, over in Bangladesh, May Day was used by garment workers to demand punishment for garment factory owners who fail to provide safe working environments. The activists also want compensation for victims of workplace accidents. Picture: A. M. AHAD/AP – the telegraph
Pro-government communist (L) and anarchist (R) movement demonstrators clash during a May Day demonstration in Santiago, Chile. – reuters/Ivan Alvarado
A protester reacts as police fire tear gas during a May Day demonstration in Istanbul May 1, 2014. Turkish police fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber pellets to stop May Day protesters, some armed with fire bombs, from defying Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and reaching Istanbul’s central Taksim square. – reuters/Cevahir Bugu
Araceli Jaime dances in a traditional Aztec costume during Seattle’s 14th annual May Day march for workers and immigrant rights, in Seattle, Washington. – reuters/David Ryder
in the name of never forgetting:
the bodies that burned with the factories
(bangladesh, pakistan, italy, vietnam, china, india,
[producing: poultry, rubber, clothing, towels, shoes, lingerie])
those who cross borders or die trying (or are detained on either side or are swiped from their homes, their families, their workplaces in the middle of the night)
to do the work that no one else is willing to do
for half the pay
tireless labor organizers everywhere
exercise for today:
trace every object/substance you interact with back to its point of origin
step-by-step
(beginning with the computer/phone you read this on)
finish at the end of the day by watching the full film of which this is just a clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4eLsRUbtBk
_______
detail collector 