I chose to vote about three weeks ago. This is mostly because my teaching schedule would not allow me to vote until late afternoon, and I didn’t want to forget or let time slip away from me on Nov. 4th. RJ and I went down to the courthouse and it was a breeze. I think today we’re going to see historic numbers in terms of voter turn out, and I think that’s exciting. I think the youth vote is going to turn out strong, which I’m very excited about because they’ve been the heavily courted demographic for the last few years. Regardless of who you choose, it is important to get out and vote today. I think no matter if you’re a McCain supporter or an Obama supporter, we all agree, it’s time for something different.
My dad sent me this link this morning. I think this basically says it all.
I’m doing the ballot thing again this evening. I think it’s going to be a long evening, but it’s cool to be a part of the election process. _____________________________________________________________________
Next week I’m going to begin my “winter poem series.” This week is going to be hectic at best, so Monday we’ll kick it off officially. _____________________________________________________________________
My Halloween costume:
It was fun dressing up like a cupcake. I like making creative costumes and I have to say, pink tights with no feet? Awesome. _______________________________________________________________________
The Academy of American Poets sent this email out last week:
Dear Friends,
What does poetry have to do with the serious financial havoc the world has been enduring? Does anyone have time to consider a confection of art — spun from the imagination — while we face the chilling reality of lost homes, tattered businesses, or a compromised future? “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.”
We seem to be able to do so little against the loss and fear and panic. Yet poetry’s realm is precisely here — in the emotional center, where desire and terror and hope and dread converge without easy answers.
The complex world of finance is one that humans invented, and it is a world that is incomprehensible to many people — yet it too was first made in the imagination. The response to the current distress will also be forged in our collective imagination. Those of us who believe in the economy of words look to poetry to give shape to inchoate anxieties.
The staff at the Academy of American Poets has assembled a selection of poems on Poets.org that we each have turned to during the recent confusion, and we hope they will open the possibility of a different kind of reflection in the fog of uncertainty. Poetry can provide solace, give voice to despair, restore optimism, or simply remind us of our common connection through words. As William Faulkner said in his Nobel speech, “The poet’s voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.”
Yours,
Tree Swenson Executive Director, Academy of American Poets
Brianna Pike 