bookshelf project 18: the little book of feminist saints by julia pierpont and manjit thapp

“Now that I have read your magazine, I know for sure that you are a commie, lesbian, long-haired dyke, witch, slut, who dates negroids.”

A QUARANTINE MANIFESTO:

I will keep my sanity or lose it. Either is an interesting way to live.

As the futurists say, courage, audacity, and revolt will be essential elements of our poetry. In this case, poetry encompasses all living.

Balconies, porches, roofs, and lonely patches of sidewalks will from here on out be known as sacred spaces.

The sun is my new God. Any and all deities are encouraged as the worshipping of something, even if it is just your own body and mind, is of paramount importance right now.

I will dance or I will not dance. Movement and stillness are the twinned forces of life and they must be respected as such.

Things will be described as they are, not as they should be seen: the green vines climbing up my house are violent, not beautiful, the moon is a coiled serpent, not a benevolent face, the bug bites on my side are dust from Mars, not welts. The whole world will be transformed this way into something more real so when I am sold ideas and products I will know what is real and what is not.

I will dream every night, known or unknown to myself, remembered or unremembered, because dreams are the only way to travel now. If I remember them, I will not write them down and I will only speak of them if they are interesting.

Sleep is now allowed at any and all times. I will hibernate as if preparing for the spring of a new century.

Any man, woman, or child who has the courage to laugh will immediately be added to the list of deities, along with the sun.

Kisses are now decreed diamonds and to receive one is to receive something precious and valuable. This is of the utmost importance and is not to be forgotten.

I will enter the pit of despair and the exalted hill of happiness with the same feeling: curiosity.

The dead will be mourned.

I will remember money is paper and that Roman soldiers were once paid in salt because it was so valuable. I will remember this every time I cook.

I will not hold myself to anything I said yesterday for the world changes at breakneck speed. I will remember that all life is change.

Fear will be eradicated and love will be reinstated as our resting state.

I will remember that the history of the world is long and cyclical.