Dear Friends,
The poem below moved me. Mosab Abu Toha is a poet from Gaza. He is the author of “Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear” and “Forest of Noise.”
In this season, as people from many traditions gather to find and celebrate the light, let us first acknowledge the darkness of our participation in the genocide in Gaza.
How can we not respond?
Image by Mahmud Hams
Under the Rubble
She slept on her bed,
never woke up again.
Her bed has become her grave,
a tomb beneath the ceiling of her room,
the ceiling a cenotaph.
No name, no year of birth,
no year of death, no epitaph.
Only blood and a smashed
picture frame in ruin
next to her.
In Jabalia camp, a mother collects her daughter’s
flesh in a piggy bank,
hoping to buy her a plot
on a river in a faraway land.
A group of mute people
were talking sign.
When a bomb fell,
they fell silent.
It rained again last night.
The new plant looked for
an umbrella in the garage.
The bombing got intense
and our house looked for
a shelter in the neighborhood.
I leave the door to my room open, so the words in my books,
the titles, and names of authors and publishers,
could flee when they hear the bombs.
I became homeless once but
the rubble of my city
covered the streets.
They could not find a stretcher
to carry your body. They put
you on a wooden door they found
under the rubble:
Your neighbors: a moving wall.
The scars on our children’s faces
will look for you.
Our children’s amputated legs
will run after you.
He left the house to buy some bread for his kids.
News of his death made it home,
but not the bread.
No bread.
Death sits to eat whoever remains of the kids.
No need for a table, no need for bread.
A father wakes up at night, sees
the random colors on the walls
drawn by his four-year-old daughter.
The colors are about four feet high.
Next year, they would be five.
But the painter has died
in an air strike.
There are no colors anymore.
There are no walls.
I changed the order of my books on the shelves.
Two days later, the war broke out.
Beware of changing the order of your books!
What are you thinking?
What thinking?
What you?
You?
Is there still you?
You there?
Where should people go? Should they
build a big ladder and go up?
But heaven has been blocked by the drones
and F-16s and the smoke of death.
My son asks me whether,
when we return to Gaza,
I could get him a puppy.
I say, “I promise, if we can find any.”
I ask my son if he wishes to become
a pilot when he grows up.
He says he won’t wish
to drop bombs on people and houses.
When we die, our souls leave our bodies,
take with them everything they loved
in our bedrooms: the perfume bottles,
the makeup, the necklaces, and the pens.
In Gaza, our bodies and rooms get crushed.
Nothing remains for the soul.
Even our souls,
they get stuck under the rubble for weeks.
Here’s Scott:
I had such fun revisiting this March 4th concert during the editing process! Whereas those of us who were at the FireHouse had a couple of hours at the actual event itself, I had the luxury of immersing myself in this wonderful event, and I came out feeling like I’d been bathed in joy.
After editing out most of the microphone adjustments, musician transitions, intermission, blank spaces, and clumsy transitions which are inevitable in any live concert, and adding only a very few visual and audio enhancements at various points, what remains is the essence of this wonderful community event - the sort of “maple syrup moments” if you will, of a time that was not only heartwarming but which ended up raising over $1,500 for the Bellingham Food Bank.
So I sincerely hope you take some time to listen to and enjoy this video recording. Whether or not you were in attendance at the FireHouse on March 4th, this is your chance to have your very own command performance of the concert! The recording quality is excellent thanks to the skill and attention of recording guru Phil Heaven, so go ahead and listen to a little of it, fix lunch or supper, then come back and treat yourself to a little more after watching the evening news, or on your phone just before you go to bed. Next morning, listen to another song or two as you fix your tea or coffee. Take your time to take it in.
However you do it, I promise you it will be a tonic for a blue day, and a supplement to a sunny one. Enjoy!
The March 4th Fundraiser and CD Release Celebration was great fun! To be surrounded by wonderful musicians, friends, and community acquaintances in such a loving and upbeat environment was incredibly special. Perhaps most important, it was an honoring of Linda and her role as songwriter, poet, and powerful musical presence in this community, and a loving recognition of the amazing body of work she has produced for over half a century, continuing right up to this remarkable CD, “Emergence.”
Thanks to all!!
Part of that fun, too, also extended beyond the event to being able to hand over to the Food Bank the money that was raised through ticket sales and donations. The picture above is me delivering the check you see to BFB’s Administrative staffer, Erin Vonnahme. And in case you’re a numbers nerd like me, directly above is a snippet of how we arrived at the amount donated,
Scott Slaba
You can view the short, 3-minute trailer to the “Here’s to the Women” performance above. For more information on booking a showing of this film, please contact me: www.lindasongs.com
Thank you!!! And please share!
Linda Allen
Women’s Suffrage
One-hundred years ago, Suffragists were state by state launching their final campaigns to secure the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. And then the Pandemic struck, active from 1918 through 1920. As today, people were told to wear masks and to stay home. In 1920, Carrie Chapman Catt was still trying to recover from the flu when she made her way to Nashville for the final push in a dramatic battle for passage.
I’m happy to announce that my 53-minute film of “Here’s to the Women” and the trailer (see above) are now complete! It premiered at Seneca Falls Women’s Rights Historical Park on August 23rd, and is now available for individual or group showings.
You are invited to visit our Suffrage Page to find information about the virtual program, explore both traditional and my more recently composed music of Suffrage, books, movies, links and a host of other Suffrage resources. You can also visit our store to see other Suffrage products: jewelry, note cards and more.
Be safe and celebrate our victories. And, as always, may we honor our ancestors by continuing their work for justice.
Linda
“To the wrongs that need resistance, to the right that needs assistance, to the future in the distance, give yourselves”
“Whether tender or strident, lyrical or percussive, her vocal eloquence adds to the power of her lyrics and music
”
To listen to tracks and read about each song, click on the image above.
““Allen’s life work uncovers the injustice, focuses on that and brings song to help mend and move through our life cycles. Congrats to Allen on fifty years.”
”
“Linda Allen: Hear Her Roar”, Entertainment News Northwest, April 2019. Read the article here.
Back in the late 1970s, when I was newly arrived in Bellingham, I put together a CETA grant to create the Rainy Day Songbook and an accompanying cassette. I worked with the Whatcom Museum, the library, and a host of wonderful musicians, some of whom have now passed on. The Rainy Day Songbook is long out of print, but I recently found the master for the cassette, and Phil Heaven re-mastered it. With copyright considerations, it is not available to download, but you can listen to it all. The Songbook is only available used, but some of the highlights are also online.
I have just loved hearing these voices from out of the past. For a taste of the fun stuff that’s in this collection, click on on the audio track to “Silver Tip” just to the right.
To access all the songs on the album, go to our Washington, My Home link and click the ‘Listen” button.
Have fun!
To listen to an archive of the Rainy Day Band in concert:
The Rainy Day Band
