After Not Sewing Much In ??? Months, I Finally Broke My Dryspell

The June Submission for Blackbird

So much has been going on lately! New stamps, new cards, new writing. Etcetera Etcetera. 

For my June submission to the magazine Blackbird, I decided to write a poem in ballad-form, based on a mixture between Norse Mythology and Scandinavian/Christian folklore.

     "Out was Ask upon a Day

And Embla did the washing

Out hung linens fresh and sweet

Yet her children needed washing.

     "Out was Odin on the Day

And through the forest riding

And with him Hoenir and Lodur

Upon that Day a riding.

     "Fast they came to Embla's house

And went they to her knocking

Inside did Embla wash her babes

When her lords they came a knocking.

     "Pleased she was upon that day

For half her babes were drying

But shamed was she upon that day

For half her brood was filthy.

     "Beneath the floor she hid her brood

The ones still needing washing

And came back Embla to her door

To answer them a knocking.

     "In came they as she bidded them

And they began a talking

Of earthen songs and goings on

And babes in cradles rocking.

     "Wholesome kin you have my dear

Said Odin while a talking

Yes, my lone said Embla dear

Whilst they four were talking.

     "But Odin knew this false to be

For he was one All-Seeing

And spied he more of Embla's brood

Down below unseeing.

     "There they are and there they stay!

Said the three lords shouting

To us you lied our Embla dear

Upon your husband's outing.

     "So from the babes below did

Hoenir take their feeling

And Lodur paled their rosy cheeks

And Odin hushed their breathing.

     "So man-folk here above belong

In the daylight shining

And elf-folk Embla left for shame

In shadows dark and pining."

(One note: this is my original work. You can share this, but if you do so, please cite me and this cite as a reference! This was written by myself, Benjamin Spick, in May of 2012) 

new sweater goofin

Barn quilts near Coon Rapids, Iowa (northwest Guthrie County)

and baby makes 3

You're cute. That's all

Hey thank you! I just now saw this haha

tied in knots art. thats how it's supposed to be read. oh my god oh my GOD it took me SO LONG to see that. i see your url in my activity and I'm like "tied ink not sart? I don't know what that means" but I just saw it. jesus CHRIST

😅 once upon a time i tried starting a business with this blog. i never use it, but now it's stuck as my main

so in the last couple of months two families i know have had children come out as trans, and i’ve offered to help the families find resources. aside from not always remember what i wish i would have known when i came out - i’m finding a lot of resources about parenting trans children that are written by cis people, or published by cis-led organizations.

does anyone have recommendations on parenting resources

1. written by trans people

2. published by trans-led orgs

TSER is there obviously, but i’m looking for resources for parents rather than teachers? and PFLAG & Gender Spectrum both seem pretty cis-lead.

birththey suit

John Boyega:  “Africa isn’t a testing lab you pieces of shit.”

Jay Ingram: “For those wondering, two scientists in France said they should test the COVID vaccine on people in Africa for efficiency or something. Super dehumanizing and part of a long, racist history of similar acts.”

this is probably a longshot but recently I read a poem titled something like “the last thing she sees”……. and its like. from the perspective of a bird on a birdfeeder in someones yard… and the bird is the last thing that sees the person alive before they pass away / the last thing the person sees but obviously the bird has no way of knowing that. anwyays like. i have been thinking about it for two days straight but like a fool i neglected to save it and so now here i am on tumblr dot com asking if youve heard of this poem