The Light at the End of the Tunnel

 The Light at the End of the Tunnel

 

Can you see the light?

I think I can.

After four months of inactivity

I am slowly coming back to myself.

Surgery was a cakewalk

Yes, I was asleep for the duration.

But real healing takes time.

My body must accept the new ball and joint,

reattach and mean it

because I plan to put it to the test.

My surgeon, Dr. Stone,

yes, that’s his real name,

said stay upright, not really, but you get the gist.

Stay upright, my dear, and all is well, plus you won’t have to keep that appointment we set for next January.

Stay upright like a tin soldier and soldier on like the Mailman who delivers the mail in all kinds of weather, or the thief who steals from you and then goes on TV to brag about it.

Stay upright, and you never have to see me again.

Now I know what you’re thinking, and I’m thinking it too

How long will it be before she falls?

Well, don’t take that bet yet

because I already did

back in Florida at my favorite beach

and I’m FINE.

I know how to fall, and it was brilliant

Sorry, you missed it

Well, it’s over now, and I survived.

Try to remember that and carry on.

No bets today or tomorrow.

Go back to fighting over politics and the price of oil.

I’ll be here minding the joint.

 

Dear Emmeline Pankhurst

 “We are here not because we are law-breakers; we are here in our efforts to become law-makers. I would rather be a rebel than a slave! “ Emmeline Pankhurst was a leading British suffragette who played a militant role in fighting to gain women the right to vote. 

Dear Emmeline, 

You dared to go against the establishment

and not in a trite way,

 but with a rebellious heart that came with discipline and extreme focus.

We salute you because it was unpopular and came at a high price. 

We salute you for dedicating your life to the cause.

We salute you for being unwavering and selfless.

We salute you for being willing to go to jail seven times.

We salute you for convincing Churchill to vote in favor of a women's suffrage bill in 1904. 

We salute you for the motto: ‘Deeds not words.’

Your influence and inspiration stretched across the Atlantic to America, and for that, we salute you. 

Signed,

A New Generation of Rebels



P.S. Red Lipstick Rules!

Why You Should Care

Why You Should Care

 

Why should they care—

when your face goes full loading screen as a friend announces,

“She’s an author and a photographer.”

So what—do you want confetti or a coupon?

My name is Cornelia De Dona.

I kept my ex-husband’s last name—

not nostalgia—just because it glides off the tongue like good bourbon,

and I’m not high-strung.

Not high-maintenance either—more like low-wattage menace with good posture.

My claim to fame is simple:

I’ve won awards—tiny gold stars for the way my mind bites the page.

Recognition, too, for my writing and my art—

the art being photography: stealing light and returning it as evidence.

People tell me my photos are beautiful,

like this burrowing owl—

she posed as I passed, a pocket-sized bouncer in feathers,

eyes flashing WARNING, and, honestly, I was impressed—

she gave me her best angle, like she’d trained in a studio I can’t afford.

And after all, that’s all anyone can do

show up, hold still, and dare the world to look back.