july 4 state of the union, take one

tyranny is a tinny sound that the orange fellow makes in front of reflecting pools

wah

wah

wah

which is wail in English but in Urdu,

it's what you say two times when the poet just kills it.

tyranny is

talking

ourselves

out of

remembering

we are

also

the

wild

dark

ones

made

of mystery

following

our gut

and

smells

of other animals

in caves

highways

byways

bus stops

We have lost our animal selves, ceded the cave for the picket fence, lost the howl, the sharp teeth, and the forests for well-tended gardens with sprinklers that startle skunks or that lone fellow who likes to run at 3 am in iron tight spandex (to which I say—thank goodness for the dark)

This is no ode to skunks on the run.

It’s a call to end tyranny.

even as we pay the bills, "dot the i’s" and sign the ___ papers

even as I profess my love of rose bushes, geraniums, and

geometry to the nth degree

— just not

at the expense of

being and believing in

the junglee

the pagal

wild and mad in Hindi

I believe the next revolution will come from re-imagining who we were in the cave of shadows, seeing the flames that show you the shadow that is only yours to follow…

Yes.

That.

Growl, grimace, bare your teeth and scare away the ghosts that make fun of your thighs in blue light - it’s flat blue light! for goodness sake!

and call out the wild songs, the lost poems, the forgotten grrrittty witty parts of yourself

that’s freedom with an mmmmm…

i will join you

by announcing

on

saturday july 10 at thirteen thirteen hours or 1:11 pm

a new offering

in service

of

said freedom

which I am

creating

while

biting into a biscuit

next to the

tea cup

wasn’t this whole enterprise

about tea parties anyway?

Look

for a visceral offering on july 10

Till then:

may you grimace

before the mirror

and out the corner of your eye

glimpse
the love
for what
you could not name

the freedom

you sneezed out

even if it was the tiniest sound

or a big ole haruuumppp

most of all,

this july 4,

I wish

that

you

make rude

faces

at all

tyrants

beginning

of course

and

first of all

with your

o

w

n

bee-u-teeful

self

viva la revolución

azaad zindabad

sincerely,

Shebana

p.s. may you go forth and eat (sweet potato) fries!

contact me at info@shebanacoelho.com

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Shebana Coelho

-sound asleep at 3:33am

-mad for a certain view from a stone cottage by the sea

-host of the forthcoming july 10 offering which is sorta a surprise to her too but following the gut, gotta gotta gotta

-yawns but does not yarn, sews only if it's cross stitch on a blue apron and three nuns show you how

-wrote this about starry starry future rivers

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