Child Of The Universe: No Borders

breathing through the people and always seeking them, them always seeking you so you can breathe together, have a collective dream. Humanity.

Isaiah 60

"Look around and see what is happening:

Your people are gathering to come home!

Your sons will come from far away;

Your daughters will be carried like children.

You will see this and be filled with joy;

You will tremble with excitement."

WHAT IS IT? / GRAND KENYAN

here is the thing.
they make beautiful people in kenya.
i have a crush on every kenyan i come across, until i meet another kenyan and shift focus.
it is standard procedure and i’m used to it.

but damn…this one kenyan is made from something else because when on that day i sniffed a sweat, i went bananas insane, i gasped and broke a big
sweat to try and put out the sweet fire with it.
what is it with this very one?
skin wonderfully dark as wet clay remains in my dirtiest thoughts and
lips black from cigarettes make me yell blasphemy –
this one kenyan remains
remains
remains
damn remains my grand kenyan.

Enlightenment: Getting lost on the way.

Once we have divulged our subconscious, we must let the air of life heal it.
It peeps through every side path. The planes we bask in, high minded.
Touch the feet and step forth.

Let us share deeper truths. I ask the soul chilled to confess through commentary to this post.

I esteem the most gentility and openness in my relationships.
I am found intimidating as a woman subverting "image".
Psychology and basic human goodness are my divinity.
A lover of mine has to be emotionally intelligent.
I breathe through people, they are my wind horse.
I offer myself through laughter.

SIDE EFFECTS

you were a man i was a girl / you were a man i was a boy.

i loved you under duress,

on me you put a red dress.

you were a man i was a girl / you were a man i was a boy.

and

like that dress, i still tear and fizzle/divide and fizzle.

Inside me lies a knotted ball,
Multiplying.

Someday soon her eyes will zap-
neurons hit a nerve-
into form.
Impulse.

They are wide
shut,
as her lustrous lips.

Me in me,
She kicks and screams
But who will hear in love’s tureen?

She plunges down the melting pot-
Drowning,
Choking,
Flailing,
with each breath.

She will not have the chance to be born.
To cry, as if to say:
Here I am, unto thee to love and scorn.

She will divide and fizzle.

Silencio!

NIGHT OF THE IRISH PUB

Good DESI-gins while AFROdizzy

today goodness came in neither the form of jelly candy or delectable popeye's with medicinal soda water for the party body. rather it came in the form of blinking long eyelashes, lush lips and sweaty hair... today goodness came, it did not tower when it did but crouched in the corridor until it was chilled into the room; today goodness came in the form of endless eyelashes…

“Sameer! Sameer! Ek chilla doongi rakh ke!”

“Chilla! Chilla! Ek hockey doongi rakh ke!”

“Teek Hai.”

PEACE OF THE DYING FLAME, UNTO YOU.

i rise from a fire so bright that i almost look like an angel,
beaming in almost full white regalia pure as the heavens.
before me clouds part and it feels like the skies are opening up.
and to God i chant:
A Bulegile! (They are open!)
Magodimo a Bulegile! (The heavens are open!)
i rise from a fire, for i am of the fire
but it still hurts to open your eyes when
the light itself so bright.
i make fists and shake them before I reach for my scripture,
mouth a prayer and to the coals I say, “I forgive You.”
to God I chant:
A Bulegile! (They are open!)
Magodimo a Bulegile! (The heavens are open)

KABHI ALVIDA NAA KEHNA

Donald,

I understand that Dean ***** is working on setting up a meeting when we might discuss your recent email. In advance of that, I want to be very clear in my overall response to the concerns you raise in your email. First, you obviously are not satisfied with the grades that you received in the class. As I've said, I am happy to sit down with you so that I can explain more fully the reasons for the grades that I assigned. While it is not usually my practice to change grades unless some technical error has occurred, I am certainly willing to listen to your concerns more fully as well. I believe that we can have a reasonable discussion about this.

Regarding, however, the suggestion in your email that students of color may have been treated differently from other students in the class, I have to tell you that I am deeply saddened. I have taught college students for over twenty years, at five institutions in five different states. I have taught large classes and small, almost always with mixes of students from varied backgrounds, interests, cultures, ethnicity, etc. Not once in all those years—until I received your email—has anyone ever suggested that I have treated students of color in any prejudicial way. Not that this situation should be extraordinary—indeed, it should not, it should be the norm for all of us in the academic world. I just want to emphasize, as I mentioned to you earlier, that such uneven treatment would contradict everything I believe in and try to practice in the classroom. I would never knowingly disadvantage a student in any way based on irrelevant factors such as skin color or ethnicity.

Now, having said that, I do believe that perception is a powerful force, and if you or any other students felt at any time something was not right in that classroom, then I take at least some responsibility for that. In a seminar such as we had, the instructor sets the agenda and tone in the classroom, and largely guides the discussion. If you felt that there were patterns of behavior by me, or anyone else for that matter, that were inappropriate, then it would have been my responsibility to address that, and find a way to reverse the practice, or to make sure at the very least that the perception was in line with reality. And this is where I really wish that you, or others, had said something to me at the time. I would have been absolutely ready and willing to work with you on addressing any such issues. Indeed it would have been my responsibility to be responsive in that way. Alas, there is little we can do at this time.

What I do want to do now is to reach out to you, and to any other students with similar concerns, to talk and listen, and to try to understand each other's position better. I believe that open and honest dialogue is the only way to find successful resolution to this type of issue. So I hope you will be willing to listen to my perspective; I am certainly ready to listen to yours.

SHIT SAMPLE 2

Donald,

As I mentioned to you, I would be more than happy to discuss all of
the issues you raise in person.  But, one point of clarification is
in order.  You mention that you "got in the high 80s or low 90s
percentage-wise for the first midterm."  Since I gave the graded
tests back, I do not have the numbers you refer to.  What I have is
the grade record that shows a "B"  (and not a "B-" as you suggest)
for the midterm grade.  It was this midterm grade of B that was used
to calculate your final grade for the course.

As I mentioned in class, students who received combined numbers in
the 80s received Bs.  Students who received combined numbers in the
90s received As.  If you in fact received "low 90s" in the combined
numbers on the midterm, then your midterm rightfully should have been
an A.  If that is the case, then I made an error of either addition
or transcription, which can be corrected.  This would in fact raise
your final course grade to a B.  I would need to see the original
copy of the midterm exam to verify this scenario.

Best,

RB

FUCKERY SAMPLE 2

Donald,

Now that you are back on campus, I think it best that we discuss your
concerns in person.  I am available most of the day tomorrow (except
for class 11:20-12:35).  Let me know if there is some time when it
would be convenient for you to come by.  I am certainly willing to go
through your paper with you, and to more fully explain my rationale
for the grade you received.  Regarding your other concerns, I must
say that the idea of treating students of color any differently from
any other students is
contrary to everything I believe and try to practice in the
classroom.  But, as I say, I think these things are probably best
considered in person, so I hope we can find a time soon to discuss them.

Best,

RB


On Feb 8, 2009, at 3:54 PM,  wrote:

> Hello Prof.
>
> I have been in Tanzania for Winter Study where I had limited access
> to internet and so could not communicate. But now that I am back on
> campus, I would like to re-open discussion about my grade in your
> "Plays and Performance" class last semester. I have already spoken
> to you about how I found the grade profoundly frustrating given my
> work in the class.
>
> I, as well as four other students of color in your class were
> unhappy with the way the class was conducted and eventually graded
> and we expressed out concerns to Dean Merrill, Dean McKeon, Dean
> Sneed and the Multicultural Center. Lauren Young and I were
> especially vocal about the fact that you never picked us to speak
> in class even when we raised our hands, and when we were able to
> speak, you interrupted us and that evidently hurt our participation
> grades as you described that I was "disengaged" in class.
>
> I will not attempt on behalf of Morgan Phillips-Spotts, Lauren
> Young, Jordanne King. About my grades in particular:
>
> - I was one of two or three students who got either in the high
> 80's or low 90's percentage-wise for the first midterm. Everyone
> else got much lower, the results were curved (or even inflated) and
> I still got a B- for the midterm.
>
> - My final paper which you wrote was "frustrating to read"is I
> believe work that deserves better than a borderline fail grade of
> C-. I would like a different professor in the department to cross-
> grade it.
>
> - The final exam itself was very tight on time and it was a stretch
> to expect a full-fledged paper that ties in THREE plays, after
> addressing them individually for about a page each. Given the
> constraints and the quality of the work, I believe this exam I
> submitted is more than borderline C work.
>
> - I am not going to argue my class participation grade of B
> although I did express my concern to you during the semster that I
> feel that my participation was thoughtful when I was picked to
> speak and you agreed, although emphasis was put on the frequency of
> talking in class as opposed to actually putting solid contributions
> on the table to advance the class conversation. People who got
> rewarded are people who did not read the plays and came class and
> just said over and over, "I thought the play was weird" with no
> intellectual value whatsoever.
>
> I would like to let you know that my Theatre major is very
> important to me and I am only asking for this cross-grading as a
> way of making sure that I get what I deserve, after putting so much
> work and effort into a class that I did not feel a part of half the
> time. I looked past the discomfort of the class to actually being a
> good student and I feel that I am going to claim my transcript as
> my own, it should comprise of grades I deserve.
>
> Thank you for your time and I hope to hear from you soon about this
> matter.
>
> Leungo Donald Molosi '09

FUCKERY SAMPLE 1

Donald,

You requested a break-down of your grade.  It is the following:

Midterm Exam: B
Paper: C-
Final Exam: B-
Class Participation: B

I have placed your graded paper and mid-term exam in an envelope 
tacked just outside the door of my office.  After you have had a 
chance to review these, I would be happy to discuss the evaluations 
with you.  I have reviewed the work based on your concern and see no 
reason to change the grades.  I am, however, always willing to 
discuss work with students.  If you'd like to make an appointment to 
do so sometime after January 5, please let me know.

Have a happy and safe holiday season.

RB

On Dec 17, 2008, at 4:45 PM, Donald Molosi wrote:

> Rob,
>
> Also, I have been advised that if I would like my exam grade to be 
> reconsidered
> I could get a fellow professor or two to read my work, including 
> the exams and
> have a conversation about with you involved. This would of course 
> re-grading
> and seeing if we end up with the same grade or not.
>
> So, please keep a copy of my exam that you graded. I have a copy of 
> the ungraded
> one as  a back-up. I believe all my work to be first-class in this 
> class and if
> I am wrong I would like to see why it falls below the A-grade range
> (with other
> professors' views accounted for as well.). And why below the A mark 
> by so
> much.
>
> Thank you for understanding,and I will copy our correspondence to 
> my advisors
> and email them separately as well. I take this very seriously and I 
> hope you
> will take another look.
>
> Happy holidays, and I hope to hear from you about this.
>
> Donald
>

IT IS AT THESE TIMES WHEN I AM SO ANGRY AND FRUSTRATED BECAUSE OF A RACIST PROFESSOR THAT I WISH I COULD PICK UP THE PHONE AND SPEAK TO MY FRIEND SNEH

Hello from Jordan Fellow-Chillers!

I think of myself as our foreign correspondent of sorts. The man on the ground, experiencing Jordanian chilling at its finest. And let me tell you it's fine. Argeeleh (Jordanian 9amiyah word for hookah) is amazing. Comes in all flavors and locations, and definitely gets the job done.

Anyhow, just thought I'd say "hi" and offer a glimpse into my world: The pic is an action shot from a chiller cafe in downtown Amman.

Chill on,
Tony

The unseeing eye

As far as my eye can see,
It is me who I seek.
Shelley’s love of similitude,
Caught as the heart exudes,
--Till I am unhinged by a greater being.
Unmasked: she is freeing.
I walk outside my customary zone
And still I find my own.

How fucked up are we?

Just how fucked up is man,
That his actions should oft be incongruent with his feelings,
That he should so want to conceal the truth in his heart,
Even if pain and sorrow to others this brings?

PARENTS

Parenthood has many charms. And here's one more. It's a great suicide preventive in married women. So reports a team of Norwegian physicians who enrolled a million women in a study and collected information about them over the next 15 years. The married women turned out to have a lower suicide rate than the unmarried. No surprise-almost every study has shown that single women have a higher suicide rate than their married sisters.

WhErE hUmAniTY rEsiDEs

I have got to the point where I do not put much stock on blood; I weigh character more. That is why I believe my family is scattered all over the world, in every nook and cranny where humanity resides. And I am going to travel the world and find them. My children also, are all over the world. Blood is not thicker than anything, at times. In my experience and those of chillers I esteem, the blood-bond has been used to hurt, limit and abuse. Enough said.

In the name of my father

LACKING

The fond heart of absence.
Silence brimming sense
of being me, thee, she.
Travesty to see.

MUM AND DAD – THEY FUCK YOU UP OR WHAT?

So, I have just returned from sunny and sexy Tanzania where I enjoyed my time a great deal. While in Tanzania and travelling through the gem that is Dubai, I was certainly constantly chilling, and contemplating when necessary. And naturally the existential questions sprouted in the mind as they do.

“Why do people have children?” I wondered over and over again. Simple question it seems to be, but I thought long and hard and wondered whether people just want to see clones of themselves in the children, want to legitimize their marriages, want to witness a person
(or something) grow, want to re-live their lives, want to offer someone else a better life than they had?

I mean, the way some people treat their children once those children are born is almost as if they entertain the idea of a child but not so much the existence of one. I know this is a very Philip Larkin type of post but I would like to hear what the chillers’ thoughts are on this. There is just no way that EVERYONE who has children wants to have children.