“Why should a French or a German citizen be born with access to world-class services and well-protected rights (actual implementation on the basis of minority status may differ), while a Somalian citizen is not only denied those things, but also faces huge obstacles in becoming a citizen (or even a resident) of anywhere else? If you are born a citizen of Japan, there are 190 countries you can travel to freely without a visa; if you are a citizen of Afghanistan, there are only 25. If you are born a U.K. citizen, and feel like a change of scene, you can pay $7 for permission to go to Canada, hop on a flight, and stay for up to six months without anyone bothering you. If you are born in a refugee camp, it can take years before you even get a chance to live in a place like Canada. So how can we possibly consider ourselves to be people who care about freedom and autonomy, when thanks to borders our destinies are practically assigned to us at birth? Is it absurd to form your own state? Or is it more absurd to have states in the first place?”
I appreciate those people who are just genuinely nice. Like their mindset is instead of making others miserable, they give people tools to better themselves because why not. Thanks for putting that good energy out into the universe.
i’m just saying that when i saw you like that, singing with your head thrown back, something good broke open my ribcage and the bad flew out. i’m saying watching you love music makes me feel every note like a flowerpetal. i’m saying i want to spend nights with wine bottles sitting on the floor eating takeout and talking about politics. i’m saying that i imagine futures with you that never come true. i look for excuses to touch you. i’m saying last night i dreamed i could control the weather and yet all i wanted was to be with you. i want to lie in meadows and hear you talk about mozart. i want to see movies with you where we pull apart the scores and dissect the acting. i want to write a better ending. one where i end up with you.
I’m telling myself it’s okay. I loved you with my everything and you just needed something different than I could put together. I’m saying I was a building sandcastles kind of person and you always asked why I bothered when it was going to wash away. I think we did our best. I’m saying I know she’ll be better than me in the end but I tried so hard I broke myself for it. That’s what I’ve been saying to myself, I guess: at least you tried. It’s just that you needed something different.
baby! i look at you and my heart remembers the time when my atoms were a mossy log, all ray of sun. you make me remember a summer i never had. feel like a future where we live with our rescue dogs and greenhouses. make you more flower crowns. when i dance with you it feels easy, one-two-three. like kitchens are ballrooms.
i been lookin for ways to tell you i miss you but they always seem so silly. the glow of your eyes puts a sun in my spine. hearing you laugh is a meadow i never want to stop running in. i want to spend all my time finding ways to fill up your life. you’re warm cookies. good coffee at sunrise. a book and soft socks and rain on the rooftop.
The Lovers of Valdaro, discovered by archaeologists at a tomb in San Giorgio near Mantua, Italy. The couple have been holding one another for 6,000 years.
A 13th century French Château, abandoned since the 1930s when a fire broke out and caused devastating damage. It has since been left to the elements, and nature has taken over.
