the power of
writing; a Civil War
soldier's letter home was
written in two directions to
save paper, your literacy flourishes
Blue, oh baby, it's a wild world, we
become a center for oral translation, I
want you in two directions to *save face,
take me from front and back,

scholarly pursuits,
you finger me front
cover to back, like a
book needing translation,
smoke and the fragrance of
roasting quail, the Firefox book
series, I'm brazing, turn me over,
not disposable like a pizza box, women
of self-promotion, inking bylines on grains of
rice stamping print, poetry in translation, the origin
of writing, the need to record, Cat Stevens written
in two directions, the guise of Yusaf Islam,

there are hearers
of us, but they will
have learned nothing,
the street signs freshly
painted with the L Word,
oh, baby it's a wild world,
Plato warned that writing
would make humans "trust
to the external written characters
and not remember of themselves,"

writing is something
we must do, prompting
those to think as they read us,
Blue, writing requires passion at
both ends, oh baby, it's a wild world,

Maya scribes, Louis Braille,
blind as a child, oh baby, it's
a wild world, read me by fingertip,
Remington's typewriter, press S on
the character arrangement, O Yes!
O Yes!  oh baby, it's a wild world...


Copyright 2006 Sage Sweetwater, firebrand lesbian novelist

http://www.mysecretobsession.com

*"Save Face" concept

The Arabian culture is a non-confrontational one which seeks the least conflict possible. A concept called "save face" is a way to solve conflicts and avoid embarrassing or discomforting the parties involved. Saving someone's face or dignity involves using maneuvers or holding one's reactions to give the other party a way to exit the situation with minimal discomfort or harm to their dignity. It involves compromise, patience, and sometimes looking the other way to allow things time to get back to normal. The "save face" concept is looked at as a behavior of high quality ethics and manners. The Arabian culture encourages people to act humbly and with sensitivity to a person's dignity, especially when that person's dignity and self respect is endangered.