3. “On Packing.” (Molly Beer, Vela, March 2013)
Here is one of the finest essays I’ve read this year, an author’s
poetic examination of her packing habits and the relationship of journey
to object:
It is best to use a well-made bed or the floor, so long
as you have a large, smooth, clear surface, a canvas, if you will. It is
best to start early, to take your time, to mentally map out (a maze of
nerves like tangled alleys, footpaths, avenues) the possibilities, the
contingencies. You must have time to ask the questions: Will I get lost?
Will I be loved? Shunned? Will I make it home again?
Note--from KMK--after leaving Burma, packing my sunglasses, I never "made it home again." It ceased to be my home, one day when I was sitting with friends at a block party in Springfield? PA. and I suddenly realized, talking to their neighbor who had just cut down a tree for $100 (much more expensive now, I am told)--that I was much more at home there than in my "native country" which I call my country of origin, where I was born.
But surely not even where I will end up, as they say.
I am now considering Canada.
The PM himself meets refugees at the airport.
But I have a few little and big things to fix here first.
I believe in Democracy, international trade and migration.
I hate extreme nationalism.
KM Kaung--
1-31-2017
Today is deadline to sign up for Obama Care.
Painting--This Earth our only refuge--by Kyi May Kaung--copyright.
