Truth and Lies

Kaddish Symphony, or Why We Can’t Wait

It’s the smell of cigarettes, gin and sweat

acrid smoke from incinerating bodies

salt of blood and sweet perfume turned sour

The sound of a tree branch

creaking from the weight of the body inside the noose

Percussion whistle of a fire hose

spraying down children, families, grandmothers

Terror and dread when you hear those footsteps approaching

Subtle clutch of a handbag against the ribcage

sweep of a glance that renders you a criminal, a freak, a security threat

Wrong place, wrong time, wrong neighborhood, wrong body, wrong country, wrong bathroom, wrong clothes

Missed my stop, my medication, my ride

Even if your loved ones school you on survival strategies

Even if you have a PhD, a sugar daddy, health insurance, a good job, a nose job, a Grammy, a lawyer

Straighten your hair, your tie, your skirt

Shave your beard, shave your legs, take your meds

Change your name, change location, change clothes

I can’t wait for Yizkor

I’ve already started calling out the names

Trayvon Martin

Sakia Gunn

Emmett Till

Matthew Shepard

Gwen Araujo

Lawrence King

Tyler Clementi

Keep going

Tomorrow it might be you, your child, your lover, your teacher, your neighbor, your grandmother

Today we can write,

sing

cry

talk

listen

rage

pray

pay

hug

heal

touch

laugh

vote

feed

read

drum

chant

circle

walk

stand

speak

We don’t have to do this alone

I don’t care if you call it God, Buddha, Allah, Jesus, Yahweh, HaShem, Mystery, Nature, Higher Power, Justice, Truth, Peace

Stand for Love

Start right now

 

March 25, 2012

© Karen L. Erlichman

Posted in Courage, Dealing with Obstacles, Grief and Loss, Healing, Interfaith, Resilience, Social Justice, Truth and Lies

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The Brave Truth

The theme of truth and truthtelling has been on my mind (and blog) for weeks. My students and I are reading the book Being with Dying: Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death, by Joan Halifax. It is a beautifully written book by an extraordinary Buddhist teacher. I've had to take breathing breaks regularly as I've been reading it, because her writing goes directly to the heart of things without any sugarcoating or fluff. It is a book of brave truths about dying, compassion, and presence.

There is something about the brave truth that is both disarming and inspiring. 


The more I know, the less I understand
All the things I thought I knew, I'm learning again
I've been tryin' to get down to the heart of the matter
But my will gets weak
And my thoughts seem to scatter
But I think it's about forgiveness

–Don Henley, lyrics from "The Heart of the Matter"

Posted in Truth and Lies

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Turning the Corner toward Truth

I pulled out my old copy of On Lies, Secrets and Silence by Adrienne Rich; the binding is dry, cracked and worn at "Women and Honor: Some Notes on Lying."

If I could, I'd post the entire piece here. Even decades later, her words are still powerful, piercing. 

"In lying to others we end up lying to ourselves. we deny the importance of an event, or a person, and thus deprive ourselves of a part of our lives. Or we use one piece of the past or present to screen out another. Thus we lose faith even with our own lives." (p. 188)

When we are willing to share a previously buried or hidden truth with someone else, we shed a layer of false self and allow more of our true essence to be known. Some people have built up so many layers of false self that they feel heavy, weighted down; perhaps the false self and true self have become almost indistinguishable from one another. 

Once you turn the corner toward truth, lies stick in your throat like strep, tender, inflamed, raw. Truth becomes the balm for your soul.

IMG_0624

photo courtesy of JLR

Posted in Truth and Lies

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