<div dir="ltr">Dear Ones,<div><br></div><div>Thanks so much for your time, for your poetic reflections, for your friendship. </div><div>Blessings and sweetness,</div><div>jm</div><div>**<span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;white-space:pre-wrap">Joan’s comments for March 2021</span></div><span id="gmail-docs-internal-guid-c619c541-7fff-bef0-d219-87ed84384b01"><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Alice:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">this poem is full of so many powerful messages. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Maybe you could try breaking it into sevral parts. </span></p><br><ol style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:decimal;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">start with who among us can whisper the immigrant’s password</span></p></li></ol><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">end the opening section with no cages, skip the next lines</span></p><ol style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px" start="2"><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:decimal;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">resume with trail of tears</span></p></li></ol><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">tell of the pot/etc</span></p><ol style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px" start="3"><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:decimal;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">within my veins stream is a good place to start your own story.</span></p></li></ol><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">I think you have a lot to say, and the reader may need time to reflect, to catch his breath, to process before going on.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Leonard</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">This is a great description of nature.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">But how do you connect to it?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">What do you feel?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Are you surprised at the number of monarchs? Do you feel lighter than air for the experience?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Please carry me away with you in your holy appreciation!</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Brad</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">This piece is brutally realistic, gripping, difficult to read</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">I felt like it was teetering between the main character’s pov and the omniscient--kind of wanted first person pov.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-left:36pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Not sure whether to cheer or weep for his demise.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-left:36pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The use of distribution of resources was noticeably poignant after reading the second part.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Val</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Title snapped me to attention.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The use of alliteration pulled me in.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Quick, snappy words and short lines contributed to sense of agitation.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Occasional rhyme was somewhat soothing.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Longer lines was comforting.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 0pt 36pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Ending was welcome.</span></p><br></span></div>