Andrea, Your way with words cracks my weary heart open. I often skip listening to you read, denying myself the pleasure of feeling. Today I’m grateful that I listened, grateful for the tears in my eyes and the lump in my throat. Thank you.
To Show and Tell, I’d bring a bouquet of Matilija poppies that are growing where they planted themselves in the walkway of my front garden and share the story of how I pulled them up year after year because they were not growing where I wanted them. That I finally gave up and let them grow…and they are now the most spectacular, huge clump in my garden, because they are where they want to be.
Yes! Show and Tell and snacks!! How much fun would that be!
I'd bring a handful of my dog Vesta's fur to Show and pass around so everyone had a chance to feel how soft she is and see how white and fluffy she looks. If we're lucky it might even have the scent she'd carried forever since we rescued her. It's on the top of her head between her ears...the smell of baby powder. No can explain why, she just does.
I'd Tell you how she's the sweetest girl. How much she loves people and assumes they love her right back (she's right). How she wants in the best way to snuggle but can never decide what to do with her legs, out straight...tucked in...a little of both. She's pretty funny.
Here's to the earth always holding all of us! Love to you dear xo
A friend of mine told me he doesn't understand poetry that doesn't rhyme. So I sent him a video of you performing "Every Time I Ever Said I Want to Die." I told him you are my favorite poet, that you make me work to be a better person, that you help me see the beauty I never noticed before, and he finally "got" it. He should see this poem too because it helps us see what love is.
For show and tell I'm bringing you a picture of my grandma. Every time she saw me, no matter how big I got, she would hold me in her lap and tell me about the first time she ever saw me, all bundled up and just a few months old. And she'd tell me how much she loved me then, and always. Now that she's been gone so many years, there are days that I wrap myself in the quilt that she made me and I think of myself as a tiny baby, just meeting her. My wish for everyone is that they have at least one person in their life like my grandma, reminding them how much they are loved all the time.
I’d bring the urn that holds my dog, Ellie’s, ashes and share stories of how she shared her love everywhere she went and how knowing her for almost sixteen years healed my deepest loneliness. And I’d share how she is still around me all the time and how my sister and I talk to her as if she’s in physical form.
Always choose love. Frakking and protests will come in the morning. I wish there was someway to pay you back and forward for the gifts of you and your words in my life.
What would I bring to Show and Tell? I would bring a photo of my late husband, who I adore(d) and love(d) and I would bring a picture of my new boyfriend/companion/lover....who I also adore, and love. And my message would be to let love find you. That there is room in your heart for more love, always, even if you think that romantic love is over for you. I'm 68, but this is a message that is important at any age.
Andrea, I just talked about my elementary librarian the other day and how she round is kiddos up for a collective hug with her storytelling. She did all the characters’ voices! A born bright spot! The child in each of us wants to be read to, and you are taking us back to school in the best way. As for what I’d bring, well, I feel fed by feeding, so I’d show up as if it were a Show & Taste and I would pass sun sugar tomatoes and tell my new-old friends how I taste sunshine every time one of these beauties passes my lips. And I believe there faces would tell me they taste it too. And all of us would leave full. 🧡
I'd bring my signed copy of You Better be Lightning, with the bonus thank you bookmark enclosed, and I would show it off and be sure to also show them the bookmark, and then I'd read them the first poem, about the world record, and cry while reading it because I always always do.
You make us cry, constantly, bc you get to something we keep hidden even from ourselves - hope, I think it is - and hold it up and reflect it all around like a prism in the window when the sun is just right. Something like that. "Life can be better," you tell us. "You can have goosebumps, too." And we weep.
I'd bring Morty, my pup, to show and tell. i'd tell the story of how he'd never been inside the first 8 months of his life. he was kept outdoors, with a gaggle of other dogs. he'd never had a bath. he was skittish and jumpy when we met. i brought him home and he barked at his reflection in everything: the oven door, the patio doors at night, the mirrored cabinet. i covered the oven glass door with wax paper, the cabinet with a pink sheet, and before it got dark i closed the blinds to the patio. and little by little Morty got used to seeing himself and not being scared. i tell the story of how i didn't want him on my bed and got out of the shower one day to find him curled up on my bed and when i went over to give him 'what-for' i saw that it was a purple shirt. things have changed and now we sleep tush to tush at night. he curls up on my bed when i'm getting dressed in the morning and lets me kiss him and coo at him and pet him. i could show off a couple of tricks that he knows. i would talk about how Morty is one of the best scene partners I've ever had. how he likes to sniff a person's top chakra, how he brings you the ball endlessly once he trusts you, how he got me through so many hard things these past four years. because of Morty i look for the moon in the night sky every night during our last walk. xoxo
I LOVE Show and Tell and sitting in circles sharing snacks! My Show and Tell item would change day by day. But today, I would bring the photo of our daughter's kidney, riddled with cysts from Nephronophthisis. In the picture, her kidney is lying on the surgical drape below my husband's healthy kidney. Her kidney is so tiny compared to his. Her kidney is heart-shaped because of the cysts as if to say, "I love you, Daddy." I believe even our organs know how much they are loved. Even our cellular structures, like our mitochondria, understand how they are loved! Sending you universes filled with LOVE, Andrea!
I recently went to this terrible leadership workshop for women that was steeped in traditional gender ideology. We were asked to bring something that mattered to us and to explain why. No shade, but most brought pictures of their children. I brought a trilobite fossil, a marine animal that appeared on the scene in Early Cambrian, and persisted for over 250 million years. They remind me that we are only here for a short period of time—as individuals, sure, but more importantly as a species—we will certainly not make it as long as they did. I am humbled by their existence, which helps me focus on things that really matter.
Andrea, Your way with words cracks my weary heart open. I often skip listening to you read, denying myself the pleasure of feeling. Today I’m grateful that I listened, grateful for the tears in my eyes and the lump in my throat. Thank you.
To Show and Tell, I’d bring a bouquet of Matilija poppies that are growing where they planted themselves in the walkway of my front garden and share the story of how I pulled them up year after year because they were not growing where I wanted them. That I finally gave up and let them grow…and they are now the most spectacular, huge clump in my garden, because they are where they want to be.
gorgeous!
I love this. It's the life of an experienced gardener. I do wish I could grow Matilija poppies, although when I read it, I confess I read, "puppies."
A beautiful reminder I needed today. Thank you for existing under the same moon so I can take joy in these notifications
I would bring a lock of my mothers beautiful blonde gray hair the hospice nurse brought to me. We tied it in a blue and white dotted bow.
Ps: thx for always showing and telling.
this is so lovely. thank you
Yes! Show and Tell and snacks!! How much fun would that be!
I'd bring a handful of my dog Vesta's fur to Show and pass around so everyone had a chance to feel how soft she is and see how white and fluffy she looks. If we're lucky it might even have the scent she'd carried forever since we rescued her. It's on the top of her head between her ears...the smell of baby powder. No can explain why, she just does.
I'd Tell you how she's the sweetest girl. How much she loves people and assumes they love her right back (she's right). How she wants in the best way to snuggle but can never decide what to do with her legs, out straight...tucked in...a little of both. She's pretty funny.
Here's to the earth always holding all of us! Love to you dear xo
"and assumes they love her right back".... beautiful
A friend of mine told me he doesn't understand poetry that doesn't rhyme. So I sent him a video of you performing "Every Time I Ever Said I Want to Die." I told him you are my favorite poet, that you make me work to be a better person, that you help me see the beauty I never noticed before, and he finally "got" it. He should see this poem too because it helps us see what love is.
For show and tell I'm bringing you a picture of my grandma. Every time she saw me, no matter how big I got, she would hold me in her lap and tell me about the first time she ever saw me, all bundled up and just a few months old. And she'd tell me how much she loved me then, and always. Now that she's been gone so many years, there are days that I wrap myself in the quilt that she made me and I think of myself as a tiny baby, just meeting her. My wish for everyone is that they have at least one person in their life like my grandma, reminding them how much they are loved all the time.
I love you!
wow this is so tender and wonderful
I’d bring the urn that holds my dog, Ellie’s, ashes and share stories of how she shared her love everywhere she went and how knowing her for almost sixteen years healed my deepest loneliness. And I’d share how she is still around me all the time and how my sister and I talk to her as if she’s in physical form.
♥️🦮
thank you so much for this
♥️
Always choose love. Frakking and protests will come in the morning. I wish there was someway to pay you back and forward for the gifts of you and your words in my life.
I love your words so fucking much. Thank you, again and again.
Jessie
What would I bring to Show and Tell? I would bring a photo of my late husband, who I adore(d) and love(d) and I would bring a picture of my new boyfriend/companion/lover....who I also adore, and love. And my message would be to let love find you. That there is room in your heart for more love, always, even if you think that romantic love is over for you. I'm 68, but this is a message that is important at any age.
gorgeous sharing. thank you so much
Andrea, I just talked about my elementary librarian the other day and how she round is kiddos up for a collective hug with her storytelling. She did all the characters’ voices! A born bright spot! The child in each of us wants to be read to, and you are taking us back to school in the best way. As for what I’d bring, well, I feel fed by feeding, so I’d show up as if it were a Show & Taste and I would pass sun sugar tomatoes and tell my new-old friends how I taste sunshine every time one of these beauties passes my lips. And I believe there faces would tell me they taste it too. And all of us would leave full. 🧡
Yes, yes to the sunshine in tomatoes! I think this same thing! Thanks for the reminder.
I love your description of tomato Show & Taste!
in a difficult spot. reading this with myself as the “you” is holding me right now. it’s everything thank you for the gift.
I'd bring my signed copy of You Better be Lightning, with the bonus thank you bookmark enclosed, and I would show it off and be sure to also show them the bookmark, and then I'd read them the first poem, about the world record, and cry while reading it because I always always do.
You make us cry, constantly, bc you get to something we keep hidden even from ourselves - hope, I think it is - and hold it up and reflect it all around like a prism in the window when the sun is just right. Something like that. "Life can be better," you tell us. "You can have goosebumps, too." And we weep.
So well said! I agree.
“Everything but ‘I love you’ is small talk” - I think that might be my religion. Thank you, Andrea. I love you.
I'd bring Morty, my pup, to show and tell. i'd tell the story of how he'd never been inside the first 8 months of his life. he was kept outdoors, with a gaggle of other dogs. he'd never had a bath. he was skittish and jumpy when we met. i brought him home and he barked at his reflection in everything: the oven door, the patio doors at night, the mirrored cabinet. i covered the oven glass door with wax paper, the cabinet with a pink sheet, and before it got dark i closed the blinds to the patio. and little by little Morty got used to seeing himself and not being scared. i tell the story of how i didn't want him on my bed and got out of the shower one day to find him curled up on my bed and when i went over to give him 'what-for' i saw that it was a purple shirt. things have changed and now we sleep tush to tush at night. he curls up on my bed when i'm getting dressed in the morning and lets me kiss him and coo at him and pet him. i could show off a couple of tricks that he knows. i would talk about how Morty is one of the best scene partners I've ever had. how he likes to sniff a person's top chakra, how he brings you the ball endlessly once he trusts you, how he got me through so many hard things these past four years. because of Morty i look for the moon in the night sky every night during our last walk. xoxo
I LOVE Show and Tell and sitting in circles sharing snacks! My Show and Tell item would change day by day. But today, I would bring the photo of our daughter's kidney, riddled with cysts from Nephronophthisis. In the picture, her kidney is lying on the surgical drape below my husband's healthy kidney. Her kidney is so tiny compared to his. Her kidney is heart-shaped because of the cysts as if to say, "I love you, Daddy." I believe even our organs know how much they are loved. Even our cellular structures, like our mitochondria, understand how they are loved! Sending you universes filled with LOVE, Andrea!
this is beautiful. wow. thank you
💕!!!
Thank you.
I recently went to this terrible leadership workshop for women that was steeped in traditional gender ideology. We were asked to bring something that mattered to us and to explain why. No shade, but most brought pictures of their children. I brought a trilobite fossil, a marine animal that appeared on the scene in Early Cambrian, and persisted for over 250 million years. They remind me that we are only here for a short period of time—as individuals, sure, but more importantly as a species—we will certainly not make it as long as they did. I am humbled by their existence, which helps me focus on things that really matter.