gratitude is a circle

I think it is without question that some real magic was happening in the room last night at the Redhead & the Slaughter King RELEASE PARTY. I don’t know where to begin naming all my thanks when this gratitude is a circle and not a straight line. Does it begin with Angel Nafis, who is a gifted seer? Who can unveil and articulate hearts, even before the owner of that heart can for themselves? Maybe it begins with Shira Erlichman who is so intentional in her living, so obviously on this earth for the purpose of filling the room and the people with music. Maybe thanks starts with April Ranger who lets you borrow her eyes through which to see the world whenever you talk with her, and it all becomes beautiful again. Or Eboni Hogan who is a master at both cut and forgiveness, whose poems rebuild even the most dilapidated hearts? Or So Phee Ah who sings and sings no matter what life throws at her, who shares that perfect gift? Or Jeanann Verlee who has the nerve to call ME brave when I have studied her courage for years? Praised at the altar of it? How about Olivia Gatwood and her wildly unfiltered mouth and brain that drops truth and beauty bombs on your doorstep no matter what? Do I thank Button Poetry for capturing all this first? Caitlin Bercovici? Or do I thank Write Bloody Publishingand Derrick Brown Party Page for believing in my work enough to print it in two books, without whom none of this would exist? Or, further back, my family who made me a writer? Or the first teachers I’ve had? The inventor of pens? I know I should thank Miles Walser for trusting me to move around all our furniture and invite so many people into our little zoo of a home, for supporting me in taping balloons to our wall and experimenting with cupcake recipes in our kitchen. I know I want to thank everyone who attended, each of you are the realest and the truest, and your faces reflecting back on me, eager, listening, were a safety net I will dive into again and again. I am going to float on this night for a good long time. I am going to take all the love you threw at my feet and pump it back into the world as often, as loud as I can.