new book

My new book, called "Bread for the Stardust Pilgrims" is out! I am posting the title poem here, in case you want to get a little taste, and if you are interested in the book, check out the webpage at the publisher's-- http://www.oldmp.com/martina.htm


Bread for the Stardust Pilgrims

Holding the dandelion seeds
Of our own resurrection,
We are the stardust pilgrims:
Oxygen, nitrogen,
Carbon and hydrogen,
Kissed by sunlight,
Remixed and reborn.

Flesh blossoming from the muddy earth,
Barefoot on the journey,
Bones (sometimes weary) singing the truth:
We are stardust,
we are pilgrims;
Calcium and amino acids,
Air and water.
This bread is ours,
Wheat from the fields,
Golden as grain in summer.
This wine, transforming us
As we walk along,
On the way to the wedding feast,
Hoping for miracles,
Laughing for joy.

Good-enough leadership

This week's TIkkun magazine had a great article about the idea of good-enough leadership. The basic idea was that if it is not so "heroic" or seemingly perfect, there is more room for collaboration and contribution from the governed, to help smooth the concept or execution of an idea. It was interesting to consider this in the era of multi-cultural diversity, when there are such a plurality of opinions, and no easy consensus. We are starting to truly have a democratic discussion, in which many possible answers are given, and maybe one will be a better idea, but there are slim margins of which might be the best of these options.