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california refuse

I pledge allegiance

to the daily discipline of tending this vessel receptive,

loving the dust till it shines.

[ ] dare we distill it:

show off those shame-silenced edges, right in their roughness, threaded dearly

like designer silk, like the finest, kindest, freely-offered silver.

Welcome to the golden state [california]

where we, the wretched, turn your refuse into [refuge]

your trash into tenderness.

“for me, darkness is anywhere my awareness isn’t…it’s just anywhere that feels unclear…and then because of that lack of clarity there’s a narrative about danger, right? and caution. and these narratives shift and change or go away depending on my proximity to that clarity or the ways in which i’ve been able to develop clarity about what has been unclear previously.” - Lama Rod Owens