Steve Westby

#Android

in triggered emotion,
we respond predictably—
just as we did
in years past pain

tell me,
I wonder:
is love
our only freedom?

#vss365

“There are no kings in America.
Only gilded men we can topple
Again and again”

#NoKingsinAmerica

It's touching to hear about these parts of you who seem feel like it's safest to shut down -- and the parts willing to work so hard to feel better. Best wishes.

U.S. measles cases continue to climb, with outbreaks across the country In South Carolina, more than 150 unvaccinated schoolkids are under quarantine after being exposed to measles. Across the U.S., total case counts could be even higher than the official number.

There are now over 1,500 measles cases in the US — the highest number in decades.

RFK Jr.’s misinformation and lies about vaccines are going to get people killed.

www.kuow.org/stories/u-s-...

#Arid

we begin as water,
wide-eyed in amazement—

hardened in protection,
frozen from fear
into rigid form

but somehow forget
we were meant to be fluid,
the necessary warmth of heart
kept dormant

as we struggle to fit
into shifting shapes

#vss365

#Unearthly

the cries,
the wails the soul makes
in tragedy—
when all that once
made story of chaos
is ripped away,
and all that’s left
is untold

loss

#vss365

Screenshot of a Facebook post featuring three of the Portland protesters wearing inflatable frog costumes with the following text: Episcopalians on Facebook Elizabeth Rose Elrod • 22h • Exodus 8:2-6 "But if you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs... The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your officials."

you fucked around and now the Episcopalians are doing memes. are you happy now. are you

we are not made
to forever carry
bombs in our chest

but we do,
we do

and live each day
wondering
when the world

will end

#poetry

#Beetle

I imagine
they were there too—
largely ignorant,
just walking by,
foraging for food,
as genius and wonder
unfolded around them

#vss365

Face Time

we lose touch
with the sacredness
of each other—

lost, as we are,
inside our cars
and blue-lit screens

#poetry

"How to Stand Up to a Dictator" author @mariaressa.bsky.social explains how social media companies used the Philippines as a testing ground for mass manipulation before employing their tactics in the U.S.

via @thedailyshow.com

NEW: There’s a disaster unfolding in Alaska right now. And no major network is covering it.

The remnants of Typhoon Halong battered western Alaska overnight. Homes, with people in them, have literally been swept into the Bering Strait.

At least 20 are missing. No comment from any federal agency.

#Deluxe

what if
you woke to discover,
behind all the ways
we hide and posture

are hearts
where love is learning to dance—

slow, at first,
and awkward,
but trusting into step

developing a softened grace
that lights a room

#vss365

Inhale

to feel disconnected
is to have forgotten
our very breath—
that sings of how,
in every moment,
the air becomes us

#poetry

Ah, beloved

many are the delights
that set a soul afire
please forgive me
if my favorite is
that moment you look upon me
with something like hunger—

and silk falls

#bedroomeyes

#Undertone

despair lingers
a muted background song
a prophecy of woe

not screaming
but humming its truth
in eternal reminder

and hope lies in
seeing its young face
embracing it as it sobs

responding in harmony

#vss365

This Is Fascism

Gorgeous writing.

Prediction Error

let the soft earth
of fellow souls
eternally surprise you

be gobsmacked by kindness

fall in love with joy

and dance in amazement—
that music exists
at all

#poetry

#Piranha (a human study)

attacks are rare,
and usually only
when dense packing
lends both courage and fear

when hunger mixes
with scent of weakness
the current runs red,
and we are lost

#vss365

Thank you for your kind words.

Prediction Error

let the soft earth
of fellow souls
eternally surprise you

be gobsmacked by kindness

fall in love with joy

and dance in amazement—
that music exists
at all

#poetry

#Raincoat

oh I say
I’d prefer the rain—

but that’s
when nature is gentle, soft

not early March sleet
in driving winds

that leech your soul
and steal your warmth

give me then
my layers

to hold within,
to guard without

#vss365

Pope Leo says faith and love for migrants are connected In his first major document as leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo urges nations and believers to care for the poorest in society.

Go woke, go Pope

Just bone chilling. And when the imprisonment of critics is combined with his offer to enrich and immunize his loyalists, this is how democracies die fast.

But it's still our choice. Don't let him silence you.

#Verve

its absence haunts
like death's memory

and we turn away,
seek substitute in pleasure

rather than hear

#vss365

Thank you for sharing my humble poem.

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...