Tonight's Poet Corner: Introspection

If the past couple of weeks have taught me anything, it's that there are never too many bridges to burn.

Seriously, I have burned several bridges due to a number of circumstances, not at all limited to the Black Lives Matter protests and COVID-19. I have had people unfriend me on social media en masse. I have had relatives become keyboard warriors because they don't have the stones to confront me about my beliefs in person. Lemme tell ya, I've drunk a lot of literal and figurative tea, and it has been piping hot.

I even got a passive-aggressive letter sent to me today - two days before my birthday, mind you! - from a previous client who had wanted me to ghost write her memoir. While admittedly, I dropped the ball on communicating with her over the past few months, she certainly wasn't keeping in contact with me, and I had made it excruciatingly clear to her how swamped I was with work and personal projects (and that was before the plague happened) and how it might be better if she found someone else who could work in a more timely manner.

And let me make clear: This gig was never a super official thing. No contract was signed. There was no timeline save for her desire for me to send her a sample page of my writing (which I didn't send - my bad. Life threw lots of curveballs at my head). No pay was even discussed. As my wife states, you can only get someone to produce work in two of the following three ways: Good work, fast work, and cheap work. You can never get all three. And her solution was, instead of calling me, sending me angry snail mail.

Woof. You think I dodged a bullet there? 'Cause I sure think so. I just hope my cousin, who recommended me to this woman, doesn't have a bad taste in her mouth about it, either.

So, yeah. I'm severing a lot of ties. And some bonds I've had for years are starting to fray. Some of it's been organic - we all go through that. Others have more to do with how I see some loved ones' beliefs as an act of violence against my community and other minority communities. On the other hand, I've been able to reforge and strengthen some relationships and friendships I've had, and that means a huge amount. Just as I burn bridges, I build others. To drag out this extended metaphor more than I should.

On Sunday, I will be turning 31(!) and also celebrating Father's Day. I am one of the lucky ones when it comes to having a loving, supportive, and amazing dad. I can only hope to be as good of a parent for my future kids - who, Arden and I have decided, will call me Bebe! It's the best gender-neutral name we could come up with.

Tomorrow will also be Zoom party time, as I want to celebrate my shared birthday with my twinsie as much as possible. So we'll see if I get a Storyteller out in time! Knowing me, probably not. I'll see y'all on the other side of birthday shenanigans.

Have a great night and a great weekend, everyone.