Hey everyone –

It’s been awhile since I’ve updated. Here’s the gist…

Kelly and I got married June 21st. It was a truly unforgettable day. I’ll post a link with pics as soon as I get them online.

I celebrated my 30th birthday July 25th, and bought a house in Portland, OR.

We moved in on Wednesday, August 27th. Again – I will post pics as soon as I get them online.

Lots of changes in a couple months!!!

When I left San Diego, my twin brother was pretty sick. We didn’t know what was wrong (he had been sick since March but got dramatically worse during August), but he was seeing doctors and giving me updates. A week later, we found out that he had an infection in his aortic valve. This was complicated by a discovery that he had a bicuspid valve (1-2% of the population suffers from this) rather than a tricuspid valve. Due to the extent of the infection, this required immediate open heart surgery to replace the valve with a mechanical one. I flew down to San Diego last Thursday to be with him, and support my parents, during the surgery and recovery.

Ryan is recovering well, and is in good spirits. Kelly and I adore our new house, and we are ecstatic to be so close to her niece and nephews. We have wonderful friends in Portland (Sara, Dawn, Johnny and Tanya), and I can’t WAIT to get back! J

I feel so blessed to have such supportive friends, family, and co-workers. As you can imagine, these last few months has been a bit tumultuous – and I’m so thankful for all the support and love I’ve received.

It doesn’t take much, but hold your loved ones close – even for just a moment. Those moments can be life changing.

Much love to all,
Margot

feelin': calm

I just made an appointment for Kelly and I to get our Marriage License, June 18th!

WOO HOO!

feelin': excited

I just found out that someone very dear to me passed away. He was a mentor, hero, and friend to me during some turbulent times, and then once again, when I returned to San Diego.

His book, dog-eared with love, is a staple in my collection. God, how swiftly time passes. And he died in Beirut, a sudden heart attack. He died in that place of seizures and shrapnel, of olive trees and howitzers, of decaying corpses and piano players, where war tore him away and across oceans - he found his way to the home that betrayed him.

Oh Haas. You called me your warrior poet. I miss you. You, the witness. The survivor. You were the warrior, my friend.

feelin': excited

 Love Poem #1


poets drink wine thick arabic tea
and I see
you in the heavy mediterranean tile
the taste of your lips
lingers in pomegranite juice
and light brushes the table golden
the night burns
unpredictable
and maybe kissing you
clarifies this connection
between
desire and loss
intensifies this longing
for homeland
awake
in bitter tea
dark edges of eggplant
color your eyes
the subtle mural of this love

plaster cracks into pieces I use
to write this love poem
on dark stained wood
this love this love
burns deep like good wine
spreading into the bellies of Kosovars
this love
love
unbreakable
even under the watchful eyes
of radar guided cruise missiles
this loves jams M-16s
this love stop bullets
mid-air
they fall clinking
cold to the concrete
this love sings lullabies
chants KosovoKosovoKosovo
this love chants Soweto Chiapas Beirut
this love chants Baghdad and Oakland and Riverside
this love builds houses for Palestinians
rains honey and milk and clean clear water
into the mouths of refugees
this love
lights the stars to guide
us home
this love turns back the soldiers
turns back the cops
this love unlocks
the prisons
the schools
this love tunnels under fences
hides in the grass
buries itself in the clay
this love is my homeland
waiting
waiting
for our hands
to shape it.

mkr 4.14.1999

when terrorists wear badges
and warriors work the midnight shift
(poem to combat Operation Urban Warrior.  Oakland, March 17, 1999) 

urban warrior
works the night shift
at the Clothes Pin
and races the sunrise
home in time
to kiss her baby good morning

she stays in class
even when never seen
a brand new math book

urban warrior
holds her head
high
as the lights flash red and blue
she digs her heels into the concrete
pulls her collar up around her neck
and keeps on
keeps on walking
as the cops cruise to a stop
asking where she been where she going
and why she walking where she walking
even though this is her neighborhood
and she lives on the next street down

and if its not the boys in blue
its the cockroaches crawling
up the walls from the underground
or the brothers
pushed so far down
they can't see past the liquor store
she waits
for the light to turn green
praying maybe if she close her eyes long enough
maybe she wake up and this a dream
but
this no joke
now
she watches terrorists
drive humvees through downtown streets
and hueys hover over her like killer bees
and she wonder
how long
before bullets replace blanks
because she know
war no game
and
she still don't got no math book
and bullets they don't stop for church
and missiles do not stop for the bus to cross
and she can't wait
for the light
no more.

thought i would share (or at least get them down somewhere before they are lost in a box)

so.  first one.

Tennessee

the south sticks to me
like chewing gum
the dark green of
school bus seats suctioned
to my thighs
as I ride with
machas and maricons
queens with gangster grace
we rumble into
the heart
of knoxville

airport with too many
hours to spare
in a town too
small for all of us
at once
the boys in baseball caps
strut by with limp
wrists and grins
that don't quite reach
their eyes
not wise to wander
too far from
our fort of duffel bags
cuz fruits can't take
this tennessee heat

and I just want to get out
and get home and
forget all about
boys and baseball hats
but something snaps
cracks somewhere deep
in tennessee
in me
as we walk in twos
to use the restroom
as they move
into group formation
As I wait for the attack
I write furiously
in espanol
 like
mantra or meditation
prayer in the heartland
of the south

I got a response to my letter, the sum of which was "Thank you for your comments but we can't send you a personal response"  and plea for a contribution.  Hah.

feelin': cranky

Dear Senator Clinton,

I am writing to you because, honestly, I need to know where you stand. As a member of the Democrat party I am truly on the fence in regards to the upcoming primary.

I really want to vote for you. And yet, I am so reluctant.

I want you to be the candidate that really stands for us - for the people. But I see you bogged down in the Senate, I see you cowering and, well, almost aloof to your constituency. Like you lost your grounding... like you either have some very misinformed PR people, or you truly don’t have a tap upon the issues that keep us (you know, the people) tossing and turning at night.

I want to know your ideas, your convictions, your beliefs, upon the following...

1. Healthcare. A long, long time ago, back in the oh, say, 1990s, you presented a universal health plan that would cover us all. (I hope with no small-print loopholes). What is your proposal now? and I would like the fine print.

2. "Gay Marriage" - If there are two people that love each other and want to spend the rest of their lives committed to each other, should they have the same rights as heterosexual couples?

3. Climate Change (or "Global Warming") - What are your plans to keep our planet sustainable, seriously? This is going to be one of the highest priorities of every nation. I truly hope that you will have Mr. Gore at your disposal to guide our country and rein in these corporations to do what they are indebted to do (and not to pass the tab upon us).

4. The People. We are so incredibly fed up with crappy raises, rising health care costs, high inflation, and then the price at the pump and NO alternative... truly! I want investment into solar and wind alternatives (give up the ethanol idea that costs more energy to make than it puts out).

Start TRUSTING in your constituency again. We are not stupid. We are just stuck in our jobs and worried about our kids, and our grandmothers. Worried about paying the bills while our incomes simply don’t keep up with inflation. What are your ideas on helping the people? Corporations and businesses (and insurance companies) seem to have more rights that we living, breathing, vote-casting living beings do.

I look forward to your response. I truly would like to vote for you.

With much respect, (and hope that I will get a response),

Margot Kelley

Tags: clinton
feelin': contemplative

Hi all -

Kelly and I have a room available for rent in our 2 bedroom 1 bath house in Hillcrest.

If you know anyone who may be interested let me know. (Anyone who has a stable income, is reliable/responsible and not a party animal).

Month to month contract, $300 deposit req. $700 a month (includes cable, wifi, utilities, groceries).

Room currently is furnished w/ bed, bookcase, small dresser but doesn't have to be. Also has a walk-in closet that is pretty cool.

We have cats, a boston terrier, and a parrot.

Thanks!

feelin': tired