Listen to TinaO read this poem below.
A feminist on the day after the 2016 USA election
I want to complain and trash the beach
spill obnoxious tins of paint
confused by yellow shades of not-quite-green hues
all over the rocks
crash multiple bins of soot wrecking the sand
smearing clouds of murky shadows out to the wind
I am stained by this
I am slashed by this
and I want to crumple the shoreline
drenched in wax
from holding a vigil
for an exhale that turned to anguish
with no chance to settle
I am furious
I bet I can swing King Tide logs over my head
fling them
into the ocean
followed by these legs on a torso
this is no longer my body
for I have left
Instead,
I walk the beach
to make sense
of the madness
I somehow
never saw coming
I fucking hate surprises
avoidable fingers
caught in windows and snagged in doors
or train wrecks we say never happen
until they do
now
I bring
teapots and towels
rings and rodents
fire and feathers
bobbles and babies
to this water
my hair is on backwards
and my neck
lays on the ground
I am not here
She screams into the pillow
suffocating
the trembling
the shaking
and the bruised women
out from this silent
nod to misogyny in power
one hand on his bible
the other up her skirt
This is the man
they freely chose
to lead the very country where feminism
cut her teeth
so today I can walk
with multiple careers and a baby on each breast
Today I am a fraction safer on the street
even if every woman still knuckles
her keys in her hand
to reach her car
For the next four years
you will find me
smashing teapots
and bleeding into the ground
This reality
is not mine
and yet
if you visit my kitchen
you will find
I haven’t a cup left
Four years ago I woke up in shock that the world had gone mad. When Donald Trump was elected president it haunted me for days.
This is the morning after…
The day after the 2020 election, it was a very different walk on the beach for sure.
2016 and the Day After
This year on December 25th, which is both Christmas Day and my 50th Birthday, I am stepping into a new story…
and I know what I know what I know about how stories work:
Stories won’t let go of you until they’ve been fully heard.
This is release #8 of sixteen Story Hits (vlogs) from as far back as 2013. Some are my favourites, some are yours. If you missed week #1, you can start at the beginning with: Out of the Water here.
I will be writing more about these moments in both my upcoming book: STORY STONES (coming fall 2021, and in my one woman show: O MY GOD (touring spring 2021).
On my 50th Birthday, if you’re on my VIP list, I’ll be sending you 50 Days of Christmas Story Gifts from Dec. 25th to February 12th. If you want some story goodness filled with sneak peeks into the creation and rehearsal process, plus be able to pre-order the book, and order tickets to the show, click here and the let the gifting begin! (You’ll get a bunch of cool story right away)
UNDER THIS, PLEASE PUT THIS IN THE PARAGRAPH FORMAT:
I have to close one story to open another.
Thank you for listening.
xT
Tina Overbury is a core-communications specialist who works with individuals and organizations who feel called. She is a storyteller, performer, and a professional listener who works with narrative and story structure as a vehicle for human connection. Her work is rooted in Myth, Mysticism, and the practice of personal faith. She brings thirty years of collaborative storytelling in theatre, film, marketing, team based selling, and workshop facilitation. She is the founder of Live Your Best Story, a weekend retreat of deep listening held on Bowen Island, BC, Canada and is the voice and story behind TinaOLife, home to Story Stones, TinaO’s online gathering of listening in to sacred stories. Tina is a proud associate of PowHERhouse media where she listens and supports the ‘stories’ of whole and integrated leaders of tomorrow.If you’d like to know more about TinaO’s approach to STORY and receive updates about STORY STONES the book, and O MY GOD, her one woman show, click here and you’ll be added to her ‘stay in touch’ list plus she’ll send you a few short intro videos about what story means to her. CLICK HERE for TinaO Story stuff.