Art and ...

It's not murals v graffiti, it's murals and graffiti. It's not street art v art, it's art. Art is expression. Expression can be joyous and uplifting, and it can also be dark, disagreeable, vexatious. 

I am art. I am British and American. I am English and Floridian. I am divorced and married. Mother and miscarrier. Close and distant. Beloved and discarded. Diffuse and whole. 

I climb rock walls and stand on elevators

I fly 5000 miles to see you but will not call you.

I love food. I rarely cook. 

I'll tell you how screens are killing interpersonal communication like footsoldiers facing machine guns as they march across no man's land, as you try to pry my android from my fingers clasping as tightly as a pitbull's jaw around a ferret's neck. 

I hate conflict minerals. I read about the Congolese child miners on my phone, my tablet, my laptop, and my smartwatch.

I love my daughter's presence. I cherish the silence of an empty house. 

I am a dog person. I am a cat person. 

I am a teacher, I am at home in front of a roomful of students. I am an introvert, I try to hide at parties. 

I love classical music. I dislike opera. 

I run. I rarely walk.

I love the stars. I'm scared of the dark.

I wonder what it's like to die. 

It's not life v death. It's life and death. 

I tell myself, it's not beginning, or end. It's a trail in the woods. I pick up where you leave off.   

  
  (Joanna Sutherland www.tellmeyourstory.space)