Rachael's Reverie

A public space to share the stuff that falls out of my brain and onto my keyboard or notebook. Notion always sees it first unless it's mini research essays. 28, they/them, whore for feedback, love you!

[rachaels-reverie]

“LA Is Burning, Countries Are at War, and I Am So Damn Grateful for My Shower” by Rose Lennard

And god said, Let there be showers!— and water fell on the bowed heads and shoulders of people throughout the land, and sluiced over breasts

[rachaels-reverie]

Tearoom Reverie 

With ginger hair that shined in the sun, And a carmine smile set to stun, Philosophy and wit on full display, In that tearoom, where ideas gave way, By the time we locked eyes, I was done.

[rachaels-reverie]

I want to be eaten by the Sun

Warm to see, hot to touch—wisps of heated breath 

flare through my atmosphere, licking my skin 

leaving a lingering kiss, as a light blazes near, 

radiating and bright, life and love bound within 

a single celestial body.

[metamorphesque]

Almond Blossoms, Vincent van Gogh 

Van Gogh enjoyed the most productive era of his career during his time in Southern France, referring to Arles as “the Japan of the South” due to its abundance of sunlight and flowering trees. He first arrived in March 1888, as the fruit trees began to blossom, and immediately began painting at an almost unprecedented rate: “I am up to my ears in work for the trees are in blossom and I want to paint a Provençal orchard of astonishing gaiety.” This particular work, Van Gogh’s most famous painting of almond blossoms, was created for another special reason: the birth of his nephew, the son of his brother Theo. It’s one of the rare Van Gogh paintings in which you can see hope, joy, and serenity – which makes it all the more special.

[rachaels-reverie]

Regarding: Lament —I by Tishani Doshi

My professor just graded my short analysis of Lament —I today, and she said something surprising to me.

"So, so few students have ever done this poem before!...I've honestly never really considered it that deeply because...students never chose to talk about it!"

I cannot, for the life of me, understand why this is? The only thing I could think of, is that maybe people are put off by the narrators admittance to beating his wife. I am making an assumption, and you know what an assumption does. But if it is that, then they are doing a disservice to themselves!

Lament: /ləˈment/ - noun; a passionate expression of grief or sorrow.

That moment is the focal point for the narrator's lament: When faced with oblivion, alone, we have only a few things to really linger our thoughts on; all the things we've done wrong, all the things and people we have loved, and whether we would change any of it or not. While he lays, homeless, loveless, and alone, on the city streets, that's what he is thinking about, the deepest, and probably the only regret he has ever had: not showing his wife that he loved her.

[ahotknife]

oh emily wilson translation of the iliad we’re really in it now

[rachaels-reverie]

Divine Worship

I traveled down the softened path, golden earthen brown soil beneath my looped and curved fingerprints, dark black grasses standing up beneath the wind of my breath. I cross the hip bone bridge and come down the light brown and pale pink striped mount, gently, ever so gently, so as to not disturb the goddess of the towering mountain, bright and golden brown, sun streaked as Sol’s rays glisten and dance on sweat speckled desert. I softly trudge through the underbrush, and at last, the babbling brook had been found, warm. I inhale and I pray to Oshun, her roots spreading out in my hair, snaking over my scalp, I am pulled further into the water, sweet, until finally, I can no longer breathe.

Nature is my church

Through your body I worship

With my tongue’s embrace

[metamorphesque]

musings on the sun

christina perneta, noor hindi, vincent van gogh, jeanette winterson, zinaida vysota docenko, anne sexton, olga kos, khalil gibran

[metamorphesque]

Dreaming of Pomegranates, Felice Casorati

[tinyspaceofficer]

I really wanted to draw at least something for Swordtember hehe, ladies with swords are always fun to draw c:.

[legionofpotatoes]

The Veilguard

[totally-ikea]

DYING

[shakespeare-official-account-de]

there are COMMUNISTS in my FUNHOUSE

[julianplum]

🍄 🍁 🐌 🐜 🪳✨ // Omphalotus illudens, the bioluminescent jack o' lantern mushroom // gouache on paper

[rachaels-reverie]

More poems incoming if nothing gets chosen for Rattle LOL crying

[rachaels-reverie]

Drastic Non-Violent Protest: Defying Conformity in an Age of Cyclical Violence

The United States’ history of violence—both domestic and foreign—reflects a bloody cycle fueled by societal conformity and moral distancing. Ilya Kaminsky’s “We Lived Happily During the War” and Claude McKay’s “If We Must Die” give their readers insights into the dangers of passive acceptance and the immediate need for resistance. Kaminsky critiques the conformity that enables systemic violence, while McKay’s call for defiance highlights the urgency of standing against oppression. Together, these poems suggest that non-violent protest—especially in its most drastic forms, such as human shields—is essential to disrupt the cycle of violence that conformity perpetuates both at home and abroad.

Conformity Sustains Violence

“We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.” — Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963)

Kaminsky’s “We Lived Happily During the War” portrays how society in the United States conforms to comfort, distancing itself from the consequences of its actions. His lines, “And when they bombed other people’s houses, we / protested / but not enough,” capture the passive responses that characterize public reaction to state violence, reflecting how conformity and moral distancing allow violence to continue unchecked. This passivity is further expressed in the final lines, “in the street of money in the city of money in the country of money / our great country of money, we (forgive us) / lived happily during the war.” This complicity not only sustains military aggression abroad but also desensitizes society and normalizes domestic, state-sanctioned violence, such as police brutality and systemic oppression, feeding the cycle of violence that harms citizens and foreign populations alike.

Kaminsky’s poem critiques how societal norms, as well as both physical and moral distance from conflict, suppress meaningful resistance, allowing violence to persist without significant opposition. By conforming to the status quo, citizens either directly or inadvertently support systems that perpetuate unending cycles of violence, from aggressive foreign policies and clandestine actions to excessive funding of atrocities abroad. This includes U.S. funding being used for AI military targeting by Israel against Palestinians (The Guardian 2023; NPR 2023), support for death squads and genocide in El Salvador during its civil war (U.S. Congress 2023), and U.S. involvement in legitimizing, supporting, and subsequently orchestrating the assassination of Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo (New York Times 1975; CIA 2019). Additionally, proxy wars, CIA-orchestrated coups, and assassinations have destabilized numerous nations. This cyclical nature of violence becomes self-fulfilling, as passive conformity allows state violence to escalate, creating an endless loop of aggression that is nearly impossible to break.

The Necessity of Drastic Non-Violent Protest

“Life must have fresh air. And freedom must be awakened and stimulated by freedom and in freedom. It can never be born of violence.” — Bart de Ligt, Conquest of Violence (1935)

In contrast to the conformity critiqued by Kaminsky, drastic non-violent protests such as human shields directly challenge the cycle of violence. Human shields, where individuals place themselves in harm’s way to protect others or prevent violent actions, embody a powerful refusal to conform to a violent system, either as an oppressor or as an activist. This form of protest disrupts both state violence and reactive violent responses, offering a stark, visible alternative that forces society to confront its own complicity in the cycle of violence.

By intervening directly in the mechanisms of violence, non-violent protesters challenge the ongoing cycle perpetuated by societal passivity. Unlike violent protests, which can escalate conflicts and reinforce state narratives of control, non-violent actions highlight the humanity of those oppressed, making the costs of violence, especially that from the hands of oppressors, impossible to ignore. Kaminsky’s critique of moral distancing is countered by the presence of those who, through non-violence, demand that society face the ethical implications of its conformity.

While McKay’s “If We Must Die” advocates for fighting back against violence with dignity, its core message aligns with the urgency driving non-violent protests today. McKay’s line, “If we must die, let it not be like hogs, / Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,” speaks to the necessity of confronting systemic oppression, whether through violent or non-violent means. However, as cycles of violence perpetuate in response to state aggression, non-violent resistance offers a critical means of breaking this cycle.

The defiance expressed in McKay’s poem captures the need for action, but it is the non-violent protester who transforms defiance into a force for peace. Human shields and other drastic non-violent tactics channel the rebellious nature of McKay’s poem into resistance that refuses to perpetuate violence. By physically embodying opposition without reciprocating harm, non-violent protesters expose the brutality of state actions and challenge the conformist attitudes that sustain the cycle of violence, especially state-sanctioned violence against its own people. This can be seen after the MOVE bombing in Philadelphia, where the government bombed a city block targeting the MOVE house (New York Times 1985), killing 11 people, including 5 children, destroying 61 houses, and displacing around 250 residents (The Guardian 2020). Similarly, at the Standing Rock protests, non-violent protesters were met with violent responses, including attack dogs, concussion grenades, and hypothermia caused by being blasted with cold water in freezing temperatures (The Guardian 2016).

Disrupting the Cycle

The cyclical nature of violence—perpetuated by societal conformity, state aggression, and reactive violent protests—requires a disruptive force to break the pattern. Drastic non-violent protests serve as this force, rejecting the passive acceptance that Kaminsky critiques and the reactive violence that McKay’s work inadvertently echoes. By choosing non-violence, protesters refuse to conform to the expected roles of oppressor and victim, instead creating a new paradigm of resistance that seeks to heal rather than harm.

Acts of radical non-violence, whether in the form of human shields, sit-ins, or peaceful blockades, directly confront the forces of oppression while offering a powerful alternative to the endless cycles of violence. Non-violent protest forces a moral reckoning, challenging both the state and society to confront the ethical consequences of their actions, both domestically and abroad.

Kaminsky’s and McKay’s poems provide a crucial commentary on the dangers of conformity and the need for resistance. Kaminsky’s critique of moral distancing and societal passivity highlights how conformity perpetuates cycles of violence, while McKay’s call for defiance underscores the urgency of rebellion. Together, they illustrate that in an age of endless violence, drastic non-violent protest is essential—not only as a response to oppression but as a means to break the destructive cycles of violence that conformity sustains. By choosing non-violence, protesters embody a radical form of rebellion that confronts violence with courage and compels society to seek a path toward true justice.

Works Cited:

Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights, and King, Martin Luther, Jr, 1929-1968. Letter from Birmingham Jail. 1963. 

Brumfiel, Geoff. “Israel Is Using an AI System to Find Targets in Gaza. Experts Say It’s Just the Start.” NPR, NPR, 14 Dec. 2023, www.npr.org/2023/12/14/1218643254/israel-is-using-an-ai-system-to-find-targets-in-gaza-experts-say-its-just-the-st. 

De Ligt, Bart. “Violence and the Masses.” The Conquest of Violence: An Essay on War and Revolution, Garland Pub., New York, New York, 1935, p. 72, https://archive.org/details/conquestofviolen00ligt/page/74/mode/2up. Accessed 27 Sept. 2024. 

Kaminsky, Ilya. “We Lived Happily during the War.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 2013, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/91413/we-lived-happily-during-the-war. 

McKay, Claude. “If We Must Die.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, July 1919, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44694/if-we-must-die. 

Nicholas. “C.I.A. Is Reported to Have Helped in Trujillo Death.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 June 1975, www.nytimes.com/1975/06/13/archives/cia-is-reported-to-have-helped-in-trujillo-death-material-support.html. 

Pilkington, Ed. “The Day Police Bombed a City Street: Can Scars of 1985 Move Atrocity Be Healed?” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 10 May 2020, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/10/move-1985-bombing-reconciliation-philadelphia. 

“Rafael Trujillo, the Domi[15603377].Pdf.” CIA, U.S. Government, 2 Apr. 2019, www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/RAFAEL TRUJILLO, THE DOMI[15603377].pdf. 

Stevens, William K. “Police Drop Bomb on Radicals’ Home in Philadelphia.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 14 May 1985, www.nytimes.com/1985/05/14/us/police-drop-bomb-on-radicals-home-in-philadelphia.html. 

U.S. Congress. “H. Res. 19.” U.S. Congress, 10 Jan. 2023, www.congress.gov/118/bills/hres19/BILLS-118hres19ih.pdf. 

Wong, Julia Carrie. “Dakota Access Pipeline: 300 Protesters Injured after Police Use Water Cannons.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 21 Nov. 2016, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/21/dakota-access-pipeline-water-cannon-police-standing-rock-protest. 

“‘The Gospel’: How Israel Uses AI to Select Bombing Targets in Gaza.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 1 Dec. 2023, www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/01/the-gospel-how-israel-uses-ai-to-select-bombing-targets. 

[rachaels-reverie]

Mornings in Privilege

I wake up each morning Birds chirping Sun shining My kids, laughing. I make breakfast and sit in my kitchen. I get anxious about work. I get anxious about our country. I get anxious about the news But I read it anyway.

Because I am not waking up To bombs overhead Or to the sun hidden by smoke and debris. I do not wake to screaming in the streets Nor do I hold my dead child’s body Limp in my arms. I am not being abandoned By the world. I am not Starving.

I get to see my children run and play and scrape their knees. I get to hear them cry and laugh and sing. But the other mothers, the other fathers, will never get to hear their child cry again. Never be blessed with their laughter in the morning. My heart is shattering For strangers. My mind is drowning In the reality that hearts are breaking And will be forever broken.

I hold my children close, smell the tops of their heads. Like I did when they were born. Is a mother smelling her child’s head for the last time, as these keystrokes leave my fingertips? I cry into my children's hair As they nap in my arms Innocent and unknowing. Full of love And hope. If only my love could expand like a shield, To protect you and your children too, From bombs, bullets, starvation, and fear.

[rachaels-reverie]

Lavender Girl

The scent of lavender in the air, the clunking, shaking sounds of the bus as it drives over uneven ground. She and I locked eyes as we lurched towards each other. In that moment, the sunlight filtering through the window filled her eyes with pools of light - brightening up every shade of brown and fleck of gold in her iris. Her arm moves, and the bell dings. I savored her existence with all my senses, praying she would visit me in my dreams, as she got off at the next stop.

Lavender forever

Far away, in the sunlight

I never asked your name