They are determined. One by one And I’m a salmon hurrying to class in the midst of the bus melee, banking the most direct path between the meandering energy of kids, K-12, jetsam and flotsam, all sizes and shapes making their (mostly) unhurried ways to class. We are one, in the stream of life. I’m …
Author Archives: Radutti
Slow down
Quick one today. I’m tired. As ever, it’s good to be here In this place and time 1s and 0s somehow making meaning We take a beat Stick a pin in it To get something down. March has been a Lion. A beast, new challenges on the daily. But the moments, and time, and energy …
Beats Rhymes Life
The beats drift downward, echoing the halls. They’re way, way upstairs. I hear the knock, knock of the bamboo poles against the concrete wall. They’ve slid the laundry down from the skinny, long bamboo drying racks, and are in the midst of sorting, folding, passing, molding. In a household of four including two sweaty kids, …
Yes, Yes I Can
Bạn có thể làm được không? Vâng, tôi có thể làm được! I can’t help but ask the same question, three times. By the third time, he’s both a bit annoyed and a bit amused. Are you sure it’s OK to do this? Yes, I’m sure I can do this! He says, this time with …
Bubbles
I slide the 4-meter bamboo pole down toward the wall, careful not to add to the already-scarred white paint and plaster. Pick up the freshly-wet long sleeve shirt, and open one of the sleeves, sliding it onto the smooth beige pole. I repeat the process with a pair of pants, next, underwear, next, Elephant’s long-sleeved …
Stoop
I’m wondering, today. Sitting halfway up our rounded stairwell, I realize the platform is wider if I curl into the wall. I extend my legs and stretch a bit. It’s been a lazy day so far, much needed recovery after a stressful 48. I don’t normally perch here, stuck in purgatory between two ferns, but …
Weigh
We stumble out of the van and gently nudge the doors closed. Muggy heat confronts us as we mark the transition from mountain air to inland basin heat. heat is coming The grand hall beckons, buses rowed in pause as they traverse Sapa and Hanoi. There’s a selection of snacks bookshelved by two 3000 Dong …
On Cleanliness
You don’t know what you value until you’ve had a chance to experience more of the world. I often encourage the boys to branch out, to go forth, to see what’s around the corner Because there is so much more. Growing up in North America I didn’t realize what I was missing. Cuisine, clothing, history. …
I know who I am
“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse Some weeks, we ask questions of ourselves And the questions cut deep Rend Wound Our insecurities confront us Expose us Ask us to Show them who you are And sometimes, the question demands Cowering And retreat. But (No, not but) And it is in the …
Route
So many cattle They huddle together amongst the green, seemingly for warmth But surely that can’t be why, on this muggy spring day. Community, perhaps. Connection. Kinship. And as our bus swings by, I respect these Vietnamese bovine bros. Until I have a moment of…self-consciousness, or maybe simply awareness, or possibly even cowed sheepishness, as …
Get Up Eight 