Guerilla Poetry and Nina Simone

Great day with Margie today. We walked to the coffee shop and came across this gift from @PoetrybyBoots. The poet is traveling the USA leaving messages of encouragement, affirmation, and kindness spray-painted on sidewalks. Margie was arrested by the first one we saw, 

“DON’T GIVE 
ANYONE 
THE POWER
TO MAKE YOU
QUESTION 
WHO YOU 
ARE.”

She read it out loud, nodded. We continued walking, and we came to another (see Extra).

“YOUR
SELF-WORTH
SHOULDN’T
COME FROM
HOW SOMEONE
ELSE TREATS
YOU.”

Margie liked that one even better. “I should have seen that one when I was in my teens,” she said. “That’s good advice.”

At coffee she told me her memory is gone, and I reminded her that she remembers Camp Mikan in every detail. Then she described it for the next hour. Each bunk, each trail, and best of all the lake and the floating dock. Her face shone with joy, and I sat in rapt attention, loving every word. 

I was wearing my Nina Simone sweatshirt, and after we got back to her apartment, she asked me who was Nina Simone. I opened my phone and played “Everything Must Change,” and Margie loved it. Shed a few tears. I played it again. “If you only had one song,” she said, her voice trailing off.