"ancient graces walk elegantly tall or charmingly petite in celebration pinks and royal indigos . . . as though the earth itself was newly found, the air a discovery.. And as always sweetly hopeful as only women can be." - Ama Ata Aidoo excerpted from www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/143817...

happy bday Ghanaian writer Ama Ata Aidoo, b.1942. “We are victims of our history and our present. They place too many obstacles in the way of love. And we cannot enjoy even our differences in peace.”

waiting to hear from all the "christian" supporters of Trump and their condemnation of this.....waiting....waiting....waiting....these so-called "christians" are not followers of Christ, they are followers of a corrupt cruel charlatan who is the most unchristian leader in our history.

Happy bday Arab Sufi poet Ibn al-Fāriḍ, b.1181. "So in the tavern of my drunkenness / The hour was ripe that I should render thanks." "O friends of mine, you are my hope, and whosoever Calls you “friends of mine” will be sufficed."

Such a wonderful spring message but then again you always have such lovely messages to share with us. I know right now is a hard time for you and your family and I will continue to keep you in my prayers. Much love and God Bless.

Thoughtful and inspiring words, thank you. Welcome Spring!🌷

A beautiful message Matthew. Thank you for the inspiration that you offer so graciously.

Spring and hope!! Love the concept of “seeds of intention.”

Today is Spring equinox!. Time to plant "seeds of intention" and look ahead with hope and hunger for a new world of peace, compassion, and love. Let us not only think of the world we want, talk of the world we desire, but build the world we all need. Onward.

happy bday Norwegian writer Henrik Ibsen, b.1828. “A thousand words leave not the same deep impression as does a single deed.” “I believe that before anything else I'm a human being -- just as much as you are... or at any rate I shall try to become one."

all my sisters/brothers on here, i am going to be posting a bit scattered on here (i missed yesterday). My father passed away this week and his ten living sons and daughters are now gathering in florida for wake and funeral. thank you for understanding about posts. much love to you.

happy bday Ukrainian writer/artist Emma Andijewska, b.1931. "A person is a person only when he is overwhelmed by doubt, for only the tree of hope, growing in the human heart, helps man vanquish the doubts that are his horsemen to the abyss."

happy bday Norwegian writer Aksel Sandemose, b.1899. “Music and night follow the same route to the human heart. In music and in alcoholic intoxication we are carried downward to our level of existence at the time we lay in the cradle and adored ourselves...

happy bday English writer Jean Ingelow, b.1820. "To strive—and fail. Yes, I did strive and fail; I set mine eyes upon a certain night To find a certain star”

happy St. Patrick's Day to my sisters and brothers around this beautiful world. "A good friend is like a four-leaf clover, hard to find and lucky to have." —Irish proverb "St. Patrick's Day is an enchanted time—a day to begin transforming winter's dreams into summer's magic." Adrienne Cook

happy bday writer Alice Hoffman, b.1952, NYC. “The moon is always jealous of the heat of the day, just as the sun always longs for something dark and deep.” “Every problem has a solution, although it may not be the outcome that was originally hoped for or expected.”

happy bday James Madison, b.1751, considered by many the “Father of the Constitution”. “The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe in blood for centuries."

happy bday English writer Robert Nye, b.1939. "They came on the wind, Those singular words, And on the wind went. Perhaps it was all The calling of birds? Perhaps all there is Is the calling of birds As they’re blown on the wind, And we just mistake it For singular words?"

on this day in 1965, "about a week after a civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, was halted due to violent opposition, President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered his We Shall Overcome speech, in which he introduced voting rights legislation that was passed later that year."

Love both of these. Good Saturday morning and happy Pi Day! 🥧

happy bday Brazilian writer Castro Alves, b.1847. "Goodbye - somber word! Of a frozen and cold soul You are the last flower. Goodbye! - misery! lie Of a breast that does not sigh, Of a heart without love. O Lord! The wasteland bird dies without a mate...

happy bday German-born physicist Albert Einstein, b.1879. “The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science.” “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.”

"Sunset is the opening music of the night" ~m.m. ildan gentle night, bs. may the night play its softest lullabies for your soul 🎶 #sunset #photography

RIP the iconic Susan B. Anthony, died this day 1906. “I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.”

“As you think of others far away, think of yourself (say: “If only I were a candle in the dark”).” ~Mahmoud Darwish Dang @matthewjdowd.bsky.social always finding the perfect and timely sentiment to share 🥺 Think of others 🫶🏼

happy bday Palestinian writer Mahmoud Darwish, b.1941. “As you prepare your breakfast, think of others (do not forget the pigeon’s food). As you conduct your wars, think of others (do not forget those who seek peace). As you pay your water bill, think of others (those who are nursed by clouds)...

happy Aztec New Year!

“The best teacher is experience and not through someone's distorted point of view” Sometimes unfortunately this is true, sometimes thankfully too. Crazy how experience works that way 👍🏼

happy bday writer Jack Kerouac, b.1922, Lowell, MA. “There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars.” “The best teacher is experience and not through someone's distorted point of view”

happy bday English writer D.J. Enright, b.1920. "When everybody is praising the sun , The rebel remarks on the need for rain. When everybody is greeting the rain , The rebel regrets the absence of sun. When everybody goes to the meeting The rebel stays at home and reads a book....

"Late cranes with heavy wing, and lazy flight, Sail up the silence with the nearing night And like a spirit, swathed in some soft veil, Steals twilight and its shadows o’er the swale Hushed lie the sedges, and the vapours creep, Thick, grey and humid, while the marshes sleep" -E. Pauline Johnson

happy bday Irish poet and barrister, b.1810. "But solemn is the silence of the silvery haze That drinks away their voices in echoless repose, And dreamily the evening has still’d the haunted braes, And dreamier the gloaming grows."

happy bday E. Pauline Johnson b.1861, also known by her Mohawk sname Tekahionwake, Canadian poet/performer. "Where the very silence slumbers, Water lilies grow in numbers, Pure and pale; All the morning they have rested, Amber crowned, and pearly crested, Fair and frail."

Happy bday New Zealand suffragist Kate Sheppard, b.1847, instrumental in making New Zealand first country guaranteeing women right to vote (1893). "Do not think your single vote does not matter much. The rain that refreshes the parched ground is made up of single drops."

happy bday New Zealand writer Keri Hulme, b.1947. “I know about me. I am the moons sister, a tidal child stranded on land. The sea always in my ear, a surf of eternal discontent in my blood." “But hands are sacred things. Touch is personal, fingers of love, feelers of blind eyes, ...

happy bday Ukrainian poet Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko, b.1814. "Day comes and goes, night comes and goes... Sinking your head in hands clasped tight, You wonder why there still comes no Apostle of wisdom, truth and right."

RIP suffragist leader Carrie Chapman Catt, died this day 1947. "To the wrongs that need resistance, To the right that needs assistance, To the future in the distance, Give yourselves." "The vote is a power, a weapon of offense and defense, a prayer."

happy international womens day! much love and peace and strength to all my sisters in this wonderful world. "Each time a woman stands up for herself... she stands up for all women." Maya Angelou

happy bday writer/educator Neil Postman, b.1931, Brooklyn. “When a population becomes distracted by trivia, when cultural life is redefined as a perpetual round of entertainments, when serious public conversation becomes a form of baby-talk,...

I will never forget seeing the images of the marchers being beaten by state troopers. John Lewis was recognizable by the tan overcoat he was wearing that day. An incredibly painful day in our country's history.

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep..” OTD, Robert Frost publishes Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” in 1923.

Yes Sir, we will never forget. The struggle continues even as we lay Reverend Jessie Jackson Senior to rest this morning. We are stronger when we sip from the cups of these Civil Rights legends as we take the mantle and continue the journey.

Good morning Matthew. Just wanted to say how much I appreciate your posts. Have a good weekend.

Would love a snowy forest about this time… starting to get warmer than I like here in central TX … bsky.app/profile/texa...

on this day in 1965 "what became known as Bloody Sunday occurred in Selma, Alabama. The march was named for the 600 marchers who were attacked while crossing Edmund Pettus bridge. Law enforcement officers attacked unarmed marchers with billy clubs and sprayed tear gas."