 Poetry: January 17, 2024 Issue [#12370] |
This week: Spilling the Tea Edited by: Fyn  
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Spilling the tea or spilling the beans. Beans-wise, it goes back to ancient Greece where people would vote by a dark or light-shaded bean. When the voting was finished, the person in charge 'spilled the beans' and they'd find out the result.
According to a lot of what I found online, it has strong ties to Black culture, the Drag culture, and the book, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil." Currently, it means spreading a secret or gossip.
This all was a surprise to me as I'd always thought it went back to the Boston Tea Party and the spilling of the tea in Boston Harbor to signify the colonists' dislike of the new taxes on tea. Thus spilling the tea was a way to show a reaction to something or other happening--be it good, bad, malicious or just 'too good' to keep to one's self.
Regardless, things reach a 'tipping point' and whether it is a juicy bit of gossip or emotions spilling over, that tea gets spilt! |
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In this day and age, we've all learned to be careful of what we say and how we say it. We live in an age of people, (some, any, all) being offended by what we had/have as a personal opinion. One, for example, cannot say that,' All lives matter.' because it insinuates the opposite that some lives matter more or less even if that isn't what someone means. I truly wish the phrase had been 'Black lives matter, too!' That might well have expressed the feeling better--more to the point folks were making. And that makes sense. Because we all, do, matter and it should be equally.
One could post a picture of a pebble, by itself, and the caption could read, 'This is a pebble.' Immediately, someone else will post, "No, it's a rock.' or 'It's a stone.' If it is in your shoe, it might feel like it's a boulder. It might well have been the one thing that when it slipped, that pebble presaged a landslide. Rock or pebble, it is all a matter of perspective. And that is something each individual indeed, has. Right, wrong, or indifferent, every individual has their own take, their own perspective on any situation. It is theirs whether or not folks (in general) agree with it ... or not.
Within the four walls of my home, I might express an opinion that I wouldn't care to express in public. Or even, possibly, in front of my kids. Language has always had the power to incite or inflame. And never more so than in this day and age. Words are routinely twisted. The connotative meaning of a word or phrase seems to vary from person to person, from day to day, and from conversation to conversation. The other issue is what people might say is not necessarily, what people may hear.
This is why, nowadays, language has become more important than ever before. Not only to express oneself in an 'accepted' way, but to get any specific meaning brought forth clearly in such a way that the ability to twist it becomes more difficult. Poor Horton. He meant what he said and he said what he meant -- and today, he'd still end up in trouble!
Writing poetry becomes more vastly important than ever before. The language we use becomes even more so because there rarely is any explanation or defense beyond the mere words themselves. We each need to be able to express our thoughts, feelings, and emotions to express what we each think, feel and are. We need to be true to ourselves. At least, I think it is important that we do so.
Which then uncorks the whole can of worms where validity is again a matter of opinion. If I disagree with your opinion, it is okay. I am allowed to do so. You may disagree with mine. You are allowed to do that as well. We can agress to disagree without either feeling the desperate need to change the other's opinion.
And this is where poetry can rise to the challenge. Poetry has, or can have, the ability to sneak in a thought for consideration. Maybe not even right in the moment, but in retrospect. It can shine a light allowing a new perspective to form, to enlighten a darkened subject, to be a candle whose flame can glow with new meaning and resonance. It can engender validity for a different idea. Poets have always been the ones to bring out new ideas and give them shape and form. Poets have always been the voice. Never do I believe that the poet's voice is more important than now. If for no other reason than a poet should never be silenced.
Speak your truths. Tell your story. Show the world that what you think, feel, and say is valid, is your truth and that these truths --all truths -- are important, too.
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Leger~  writes:A new notebook has always been a wonderful pleasure. When I was little, my sisters and I would play school, write sketches and act them out, play mailman and all sorts of things. Then the notebook became the diary of secret wishes and dreams. Now, as you say, it's the holding ground for all kinds of ideas and scenes that haven't quite made it to be a story but need to be saved.
Happy holidays!  Leger~
Vicki Lynne  says: I loved the article about a NEW NOTEBOOK!!!!!! It's the same thing when writing songs. Many a hit record was written on a napkin. I myself have written a song while driving down the road to see my son, and as soon as I arrived I told him to turn on the recorder and wallah!!!! It was recorded right then and there!!!!
Thank you!!!
Thanking you both for the comments! |
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