Navigating Solutions and Darkness

Photo by  Nandhu Kumar  on  Unsplash Saw a goat in the middle of MG Road as I was crossing it. It was a dirty white, casually resting on its hind legs, eating leaves off the vegetation grown on the divider. I saw it and thought to myself, "Somebody's goat is about to become mutton." And the goat heard me, and spoke in its turn. "Why do you assume that every goat must be somebody else's property, human, or end up as their dinner? And while we're at it, if I got myself to the middle of the road, then I have as much chance of getting off it unharmed as you yourself." I marveled at the goat's wisdom. "Well said, goat," I praised it. "Well said indeed." And as befit a creature of its stature, the goat paid me no further heed, but continued goatfully to appropriate the municipality's efforts at beautification to be its own dinner. 

There was a recent story about Ian Somerhalder and Nikki Reed's pregnancy. A story told by the couple, intended to be humorous, about how Somerhalder threw out Reed's birth control pills because he was so eager to start a family started an internet backlash.  Nikki Reed and Ian Somerhalder Reed later clarified with regards to the backlash, calling out writers who claimed her pregnancy was non-consensual. Now, clearly Reed's pregnancy was not non-consensual - her husband throwing away pills in front of her would not preclude her from getting more, for example. There is also a difference in how consent plays out with an established couple - couples that know each other well wouldn't require explicit consent from each other the way strangers or new couples would. But it does raise a few red flags.  Nikki Reed stressed on the fact that this was a humorous story about something that had happened between a married couple (the use of the word "mar

Photo by  小胖 车  on  Unsplash I fly on angel white wings Past clouds of tears That rain down their sorrows Down upon you I swoop down over The drowsy city Dipping lower past garden walls Where ivy climbs And feels at home I slip between your curtains And stand guard by your head I watch the moonbeams Kiss your hair And spread across your bed So many times I wasn't here For this night long vigil All those years when  I rode to war Avenging the poor And protecting the land I missed your love I failed your pain But in my heart I carried a flame Knowing that The day would come When trumpets welcomed me Back to your home I did not know About the vials Of crystal clear glass That lined your sill I did not know How they seemed to increase Carrying the pain Of your love for me No little birdie Came to find me As I practiced My strokes on the snow No little mole scout Told me