Far Away Is Here

amira w pierce

  • Writing
  • About
  • Work w/me
  • Blog
Great Barrington, Massachusetts

Great Barrington, Massachusetts

Upside-down Sky

June 01, 2020 by Amira Pierce

These tiny flowers growing up wild. Beautiful weeds. How long will their colors dot the ditches and fields here? I'm thankful for them today, and for my feet to carry me down the fast, fast road near the quiet, sun-filled house where I am thankful to be staying these few days. Thankful for the screened in porch, for country roads. The fresh tomatoes, the song birds, trees newly bursting with green, the hawks seemingly suspended under an impossible sky, then swooping gently over the sloping lawn to nab a worm, a squirrel, thankful, even, for the bird scat that fell into my lap as another one of those predators swooped overhead. 

The idea of leaving Brooklyn for the first time since late March was one we eased into slowly. And as we navigated our way out of the city, I was shocked by the amount of activity in the street, the (mostly-masked) people seeming eager to get back to life. There was something in that journey that made me think, we can do this, we can function again, we can find ways to trust the world and each other, to feel safe in each other's embrace. Being set free on that gorgeous day, I felt sad to leave Brooklyn, the site of so much pain and joy, but I needed a break. I knew I would be coming back.

George Floyd was murdered on Monday; peaceful protests began on Tuesday... Sunday now and the news I've seen and social media I've scrolled show a world, again, turned on its head. It's as if the pandemic slowed us down, filled us up with its uncertainty, and then someone shook a big bottle and mixed us all up with and let it go... all over everything. 

From this side of the tv it's all very loud and awful and hard to fathom, an incomprehensible narrative of yelling reporters, of masks and uniforms and raised fists and broken glass and flame, seas of bodies across streets and bridges, satellite feeds from everywhere, converging here, on this screen...but of course it is happening, needs to happen, should happen. My heart slows and I find my breath as I turn the tv off, get close to the flowers, think, George Floyd, drown in the upside-down sky, George Floyd... 

June 01, 2020 /Amira Pierce
  • Newer
  • Older
More Blog
image0.jpeg
Aug 10, 2021
Novel Pieces
Aug 10, 2021
Aug 10, 2021
chichen.jpeg
Jul 2, 2021
Why Leave?
Jul 2, 2021
Jul 2, 2021
sheikh and archbishop.jpeg
May 31, 2021
Relationship with the Past
May 31, 2021
May 31, 2021
beatrixpotter_fungi4.jpg
Jan 5, 2021
Inter-being and What Follows...
Jan 5, 2021
Jan 5, 2021
bettina.png
Dec 30, 2020
Keeping Loss Close
Dec 30, 2020
Dec 30, 2020
IMG_5318.jpeg
Nov 28, 2020
Party Poem
Nov 28, 2020
Nov 28, 2020
silencio.jpg
Oct 23, 2020
Teaching Silence
Oct 23, 2020
Oct 23, 2020
tree by the sea.jpg
Oct 18, 2020
Marriage of Ocean and Forest
Oct 18, 2020
Oct 18, 2020
garden.jpg
Jul 7, 2020
Joy Garden
Jul 7, 2020
Jul 7, 2020
white.jpeg
Jun 12, 2020
White silence, white noise
Jun 12, 2020
Jun 12, 2020
trees.jpeg
Jun 1, 2020
Upside-down Sky
Jun 1, 2020
Jun 1, 2020
woman.jpeg
Apr 20, 2020
Nothing Was Ever Normal
Apr 20, 2020
Apr 20, 2020
slow.jpeg
Apr 1, 2020
Epicenter
Apr 1, 2020
Apr 1, 2020
Icarus, UVA Campus, Charlottesville, VA
Mar 21, 2020
Going Home
Mar 21, 2020
Mar 21, 2020
dreamscape.jpeg
Feb 17, 2020
Between Worlds
Feb 17, 2020
Feb 17, 2020
neon+light.jpg
Dec 8, 2019
Clam Monster Thanksgiving
Dec 8, 2019
Dec 8, 2019
graves n skyline.jpg
Nov 2, 2019
Off the L
Nov 2, 2019
Nov 2, 2019
me in asbury park.jpeg
Aug 31, 2019
Re-configuring Home
Aug 31, 2019
Aug 31, 2019
sunset.jpg
Jul 31, 2019
Bloody and Beautiful
Jul 31, 2019
Jul 31, 2019
cordoba.jpeg
Jul 23, 2019
Walking in Spirals
Jul 23, 2019
Jul 23, 2019
seville.jpeg
Jul 21, 2019
The Sky Opened
Jul 21, 2019
Jul 21, 2019
jesus in mosque.jpeg
Jul 11, 2019
Toledo and Text
Jul 11, 2019
Jul 11, 2019
image1.jpeg
Jul 5, 2019
Faces in the Wall
Jul 5, 2019
Jul 5, 2019
Century-old restaurant, Lavapies, Madrid
Jul 1, 2019
Hot Stuff
Jul 1, 2019
Jul 1, 2019
Jun 18, 2019
All That's Buried
Jun 18, 2019
Jun 18, 2019
huashan.jpg
Jun 8, 2019
Up, up, up
Jun 8, 2019
Jun 8, 2019
man.jpeg
Jun 2, 2019
We Just Don't Know
Jun 2, 2019
Jun 2, 2019
Mutianyu, Great Wall
May 22, 2019
Forbidden and Great
May 22, 2019
May 22, 2019
lovers.jpg
May 19, 2019
Love
May 19, 2019
May 19, 2019
amira and xiao.jpeg
Apr 27, 2019
On Not Learning Chinese
Apr 27, 2019
Apr 27, 2019

Check out my IG: https://www.instagram.com/banadoora/ and “Faraway is Here” in a previous incarnation: farawayawp.tumblr.com