By Lê Vĩnh Tài, translation by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/mar/16/ukraine-russia-war-latest-zelenskiy-says-peace-talks-are-more-realistic-three-eu-leaders-vow-support-on-kyiv-visit-live 

The mayor of the city of Melitopol, who has just returned from being kidnapped by the Russians: “These are my first words after 6 days of detention. I would like to thank all the people of Melitopol, who did not fear arrest, interrogation, torture, defended their views, protested, fought. We are free people, we will protect our rights. I believe that, in the near future, the Ukrainian flag will fly again on the city’s flagpole.”

.

you see the beauty of a young woman

in the crude hands

of a man

.

he’s like a ghost turning up just before the sunset

you could feel the echo of a fragile

ancient beauty 

of a hundred years

of destruction

.

temples, stupas

not just poets but churches

glorious against the sky

like the temples of retribution

throughout our cities

It was less than a week ago that I shed a tear over the death of the beloved Betty White, and today I shed yet another upon reading of the death of another Hollywood icon, one who broke the colour barrier on the ‘big screen’, Sidney Poitier.  Mr. Poitier was 94 … not quite as old as Betty White who died just a few days short of her 100^th birthday, but like White, he had a long and meaningful career … he made a difference.  How many of us can say that?

Sidney Poitier (r) with Nelson Mandela

A bit about Mr. Poitier’s start in life from today’s Washington Post …

Sidney Poitier was born on Feb. 20, 1927, in Miami, where his parents were on a visit to sell tomatoes they had grown on their farm in the Bahamas. The family soon returned home, to the desperate poverty…

This post is the start of the rough draft of  Chapter 7, section II, part D, for my non-fiction WiP Do Better, fka Baby Floors, fka Baby Acres.   This section will complete the early years of mapping out a path to get there for Phase I, with our Public Domain Social Infrastructure.

Putting a floor on poverty so that each and every baby born can have a safe childhood.

Outlines for some of chapter 7 will be at the bottom of this post (JYP!).

Once again, by way of disclaimer, the overall goal is now to explain why we need both equ. + justice, & why in 4 phases.  This chapter is part of showing what Phases I-IV could look like as potential roadmap for a fully inclusive society for all of us.  This vision is laid out in the hope that All HumanKind  will eventually have each person’s

This post is the start of the rough draft of  Chapter 7, section II, part C, for my non-fiction WiP, Baby Floors.  

Putting a floor on poverty so that each and every baby born can have a safe childhood.

Outlines for some of chapter 7 will be at the bottom of this post (JYP!).

Once again, by way of disclaimer, the overall goal is now to explain why we need both equ. + justice, & why in 4 phases.  This chapter is part of showing what Phases I-IV could look like as potential roadmap for a fully inclusive society for all of us.  This vision is laid out in the hope that All HumanKind  will eventually have each person’s basic needs  met, without taking anything from anyone, and without violence, intimidation, nor coercion of any kind. 

(Chapter 7, section II. B.  was last week) :

By Nguyễn Thị Phương, Trâm, translation by Lê Vĩnh Tài

thơ siêu quậy của đệ tử lưu linh

bạn cần chút bản lãnh để ra khỏi nhà
hòa vào thế giới những kẻ tinh hoa

với sự táo bạo và sắc đẹp
bạn xoa vội một lớp kem nền
vẽ lông mày thêm vài nét
với một chút son môi

bạn cần can đảm để đối mặt với chính mình
tự nhìn vào gương soi tìm những sai lầm
cả những tội lỗi đang thấm qua từng lỗ chân lông bạn

ai biết?

vì thế tôi uống một ngụm can đảm
và say hơn mong đợi
ở ngay ngưỡng cửa của đời mình
một dịch giả tài hoa và kiêu ngạo…

DUTCH COURAGE

It takes bravery to leave the house
Enter a world of elitist
The bold and the beautiful

Throwing on a layer of foundation
To the eyebrows draws…

This post begins the rough draft of  Chapter 6 for my non-fiction WiP, Baby Floors/Baby Acres, now working titled Do More.    This chapter and those that follow put a roadmap in place for getting to where every child born could have at least a little studio apartment (I’ve even stayed in converted tiny hotel rooms that had been advertised as apartments, and thus learned never to rent sight unseen, even if it seems legit and  you are desperate), as small as a hotel room with a hot plate, fridge, and microwave.

Putting a floor on poverty so that each and every baby born can have a safe childhood.

Since this is a short post (only 200 words or so), I’m putting all of the chapter 6 rough draft outlines below, since each chapter, past and future, ties back in to this chapter, via the high level…