Skin on Sundays

Natural Melancholy

I wept to a bird
who drank bleach
from the hands
of a psychopath.

Sunday,

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MODEL: I wrote on myself again this week because I meant to find someone else to write on, and it just didn’t happen. I have been pretty sad lately, from natural life things. Moving to a new city is of course exciting and amazing and full of cool wondrousness. It is also lonely, frustrating, exhausting, and hard. Most times you don’t hear much about the latter, more difficult parts of what it’s like to move to another country. Social media is all about sharing the exoticness of it, the perfect adventure. All of this hardship I’ve been dealing with will pass, as everything always changes whether or not you want it to. In the meantime, I do think it’s important to acknowledge it as a part of my life right now. Talking about my sadness is a helpful step in overcoming it. Not talking about it and ignoring it generally just makes it worse. So here I am, and here is the poem I wrote for myself, to share a piece of what is going on inside me lately, a bare vulnerability which I hope contributes to shining some light on the darkness. No need to worry. All emotions are fuel for growth, which I fully intend to use in recovering my zen.

 

Precedent

Suffering
is a
fine
fine
remedy
for
suffering.

Sunday,

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MODEL: Jason is 34, from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania originally, but he is currently stationed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He’s been affected by the rampant, vapid consumerist culture of the United States, specifically related to the industry of pharmaceuticals, to a point that drove him close to self-destruction. Luckily for me and the rest of the world, his intelligence, compassion, and creativity continue to thrive by way of his physical existence in this world; he clawed his way out of that emptiness and has since more than discovered how to exist genuinely and with mountains and winding roads and hurricanes of meaning, without taking life too seriously, without falling prey to the dystopian ways of greed and unkindness, documenting the world regularly through photo, video, and words. Take a few moments to read his heart-wrenching and true story that reveals the horrors of the horrors that are at the root of the pharmaceutical industry: How Blind Faith in Medicine Almost Made Me a Sacrifice. Jason and I have been collaborating throughout my time in Milwaukee this winter. You can see his Skin on Sundays shots in episodes 61 and 62, as well as more of his work for his photography company One Deluge . He also contributed his creative sharpness to the composition of today’s episode, and gave additional life, elegance, and necessary poignance to the photo in post-production, including sending the file to me under the name Precedent, which I decided to use as the poem’s title instead of what I had originally planned. Brilliant, Jason. Excuse me for my blatant theft. I can’t wait to return to Milwaukee to continue our collaborative endeavors.

Enchanted Fact #416

Risk and ripe berries.
If you think there is a choice
there is. Otherwise delight,
because it’s all fleeting.

Sunday,

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MODEL: Samantha is 26, from Toronto, Canada. Right now she is living in Barcelona, Spain, but I sense a relocation soon, in order to keep things as interesting as possible. Part of her light and charm comes from the free spirit living inside of her, dominating her personality. Then there is another part of her, a darkness cast from having true insight into reality, and facing it head-on. This is the type of beautiful combination that brings her to spontaneously order a ukulele on the internet, teach herself to play through YouTube videos, and unearth the multiverse of her singing voice to the rest of us.

Fortitude

Do you want
to know the trees
standing inside me
holding up my thread?
Come closer.

Sunday,

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MODEL: I wrote a poem about emotional strength, which I have been building since the beginning of my time as a conscientious human, and I wrote it on myself. I pride myself on not taking things personally, not getting offended unnecessarily, and understanding the motives behind others’ actions so that I can react in a positive way. It crossed my mind that I shouldn’t say that this is me, because I could pick out lots of things about my body that I don’t think are perfect, but I care more about the truth. Hi, this is the real me.