Person Non-Grata

("Blue Egg In Red Sea", 2020, original oil) Person Non-Grata Call me old-fashioned, but I’m glad my mother was a woman. I’m glad about a lot of things actually, the little things in life like a stable marriage, well adjusted children a good education and something tenuous yet pervasive enough to take for granted; the Rule of Law. So many things to be grateful for (as I write this on a laptop, in a warm, well lit comfortably secure home). And yet, the reality is if I say these things all but a few frown, or nervously look away wondering who might overhear the heretic ranting on his soap-box tainting by association all the pleasures of a modern life better left taken for granted and appreciated in private as the world continues to turn looking for the next person non-grata to burn. (1/19/24)