NaPoWriMo – Day 4

I have no idea what the prompt was for today. Something about a spaceship maybe? I was in a staff meeting today. A six-hour staff meeting doesn’t lend much to the creative process, so there was no way I could compose something while staying engaged in the conversation. We met in a place called the Treehouse Cafe in Hazard, Kentucky. In it’s former life, I have no idea what it was, but I could see it being a Wild West saloon complete with bawdy tavern wenches. Today, it’s a quirky little cafe that caters to the wonderfully diverse population in this Appalachian community. (Ironically, or maybe not…) They host poetry readings there. I’ve been meaning to go for months, but haven’t. Maybe after today, I’ll get off my ass and go.

I decided to do another version of “found poetry”. The employees (when the place wasn’t full) had a radio or maybe an internet station downstairs. Words and phrases from the music would drift upstairs to the loft on occasion. They floated in my head and found their way into my notebook. Here’s what I found today:

Speaking words
Why don’t we go
Way up there and
Say “Good Morning”

The way I am is
Hallelujah
Down in the valley
Talk a walk to
Make it through the night

All of this
Dah-da-da-dah
Can not see it
We close our eyes
Yeah, yeah, yeah

I have skin
In the same way
A hollow log
Is my home

Buried in the yard
My brokenness
Can be a thief
(whistle a tune)

You never go there
Childhood days
Fare thee well
Slowly as you walk
Into her arms
Find a home

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NaPoWriMo – Day 3

As has been my habit for the past 2 whole days, I boogied on over to napowrimo.net to get the prompt for Day 3. I usually let it sink in throughout the day while I work and write something in the evening. Today’s prompt was to write a sea shanty. Yeah, I had to look it up too, so go ahead, check out the wikipedia link there, I’ll wait.

Exactly my thoughts, “WTF?” After I griped about it for the rest of the day, I decided to find another prompt and I did here. Thanks Christopher J. Jarmick for giving me an alternative to the shanty. Looking out my window on the Appalachian Mountains does not inspire me to write a rollicking ditty about the sea.

My problem came that I was to do a “found poem” from a magazine or newspaper article. I don’t subscribe to any, so I just don’t have those around. What I did have was an issue of “Balancing the Scales”, a monthly-ish newsletter published by the organization I work for: Kentuckians For The Commonwealth. It’s put together by a fantastic guy named Tim who does great work both for KFTC and in his community. The issue I’m using is from last year and really highlights our voter empowerment work last Fall. The article is “Local organizing used to advance larger voting rights campaign”. Here’s what I have…

Local advance – Larger rights

Kentucky move!
Set an example
Mobilize your community

Human Rights
Civil Rights
Voting Rights

Raise awareness
Educate the faith
Restore the felon

Diligent and hard-working
Forsaken people
Good people
We give Kentucky a chance
The house cannot stand
Against the Lawless

Take up this cause
Stand against infringement
Society is paid
Felons deserve rights

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This article is largely referencing KFTC’s campaign to Restore Voting Rights. Here’s a few quick stats for you about that:

• 243,842 Kentuckians don’t have the right to vote because of our current laws
• 1 in 5 (yes, 1 in 5) African-Americans in Kentucky of voting age are disenfranchised (a higher percentage than any other state
• Kentucky is one of the four most difficult of all 50 states for a former felon to get their voting rights back.
• Kentucky has no kind of automatic restoration- not after a certain period of time, not after your sentence is done, nada. A felon must apply for a partial pardon from the Governor.

If you’d like more info about the campaign, you can check out our work on all that here. Before joining the staff I was a member that spoke out on this issue. You can read that story here.

See y’all tomorrow.

Adventures In Organizing

It’s been months since I’ve posted to this blog and needless to say my life is quite different. Ok, so it’s not that different, I just got a different job. I’m a community organizer with a non-profit. A non-profit I love, that I’ve actually written about on this blog. If you want to see who I’m working for check them out here. I’d love for you to join and mention my name when you do. Ha!

As with anything in life, I try to look at everything as a series of lessons, a life-long school. I’ve been working for KFTC for about 3 months now and have compiled a list, mostly in my head, of what I’ve learned thus far. If you’re interested in a career as an organizer, I urge you to read this list before sending in your resume.

1. There is no quick and easy way to stamp 450 postcards and the postal workers will not offer to help!
2. If you’re expecting 5 guests, prepare for 20.
3. If you prepare for 100, 10 will show up. Make sure you have family and friends who will eat 30 leftover cupcakes.
4. The people you don’t expect will be the most amazing.
5. Your family will begin to hate the sight of the computer they used to think was cool.
6. You will recognize politicians in the grocery store, but more importantly they will recognize you and may make every effort to avoid you.
7. Even though you have an actual office, the location of that office will change daily. It could be your car, a state park, or a mountain top….well what’s left of a mountain top. More on that here.
8. It is impossible to do everything you want or need to do in a day…no matter how great your workplan is.
9. The gas station is not necessarily the best place to talk to a former governor about organizing in his community.
10. If directions to a meeting include, “wade across the creek or wait for the truck” chances are you will not have cell service.
11. Not everyone will be as excited as you are about what you’re doing. Expect it, prepare for it and don’t be hurt when your family rolls their eyes at you as you once again talk about how great the meeting was.
12. Because you love what you do, believe in what you do, your job will in many ways take over your life, as evidenced by the links I keep posting to various parts of KFTC’s website in this my personal blog post.
13. Your dog and/or cat will not be spared the humiliation of becoming part of your organizing. Check out Bizzy and her plea for a better Kentucky. (Kentucky does Deserve Better damnit…)

I said to consider this list before sending in your resume as if I would’ve given a crap before sending in mine then or even now. This job is crazy, hectic, exhausting and freaking wonderful. I couldn’t be more thrilled to work for KFTC, to work with an amazing group of people, spend time with our dedicated, fierce and fiesty members who really are working to make Kentucky a better place. And yes, I realized I talked about my job throughout this entire post, so next time, I’ll blog about my cat, ok?