CROSS. CONNECT. WEAVE. MEND.
BY TRACY SCHLAPP
It’s birthday week at the PonyXpress, please indulge us as we DJ a few of our favorite posts from the past three years.
ACROSS THE STREET OSP editor and elder Stressla Lynn Johnson grew up in the Albina neighborhood, under the authority of Gramma Jo Berta and an army of adults watching the kids through open windows. Stressla had pennies in his pockets and the burning desire to buy candy at the Going Street Market — which would require him to cross three busy streets and defy the authority of Clara Mae, his mother. Crossing boundaries is a theme that Stressla has navigated for almost 70 years.
TENDERNESS IS THE CONNECTIVE TISSUE recounts an Oregon Humanities-sponsored conversation with Jesuit Priest, Father Gregory Boyle, who was the pastor of Dolores Mission Church — at the time, it had the dubious distinction of being the poorest parish in East Los Angeles. To stem the tide of violence and suffering in his community, Father Gregory established Home Boy Industries, the largest gang-intervention, rehabilitation, and re-entry program in the world. His ministry explores the intersections of love, tolerance, and creating safe spaces for people to live.
AMOR FATI Alli Matter argues for accepting one’s whole life story, as each jagged-edge piece of the puzzle fits together (albeit inelegantly) to a shape the unique life that is your own. In finding some value in even those sharp, painful spaces, we build a stronger foundation and in many cases, learn to extend grace to the people around us.
SPIDERworks combines a variety of responses to French artist Louise Bourgeois’s writing. Reweaving and repair are common themes in her work and translate beautifully to the lived experience of our writers. The time and energy it takes to repair a piece of cloth, a broken cup, a relationship speaks to the value a culture places not just on the present, but more importantly the future.
To successfully mend a garment, you need to first look at the edges of the hole, making note of the outer shape. Some holes can be secured with a little thread and a simple stitch. Others require the interweave of visible mending, sewing in a new warp and weft. In this way the rip or tear in the fabric takes on new character. Japanese boro mending exalts the visible mend with a patchwork of additional fabric and neat, patterned stitches, making a new fabric that becomes a work of art. As we celebrate the 250th year of this country, let’s remember that we are a work in process and as long as we find the value in mending fences and repairing rather than discarding, we may just log another 250 years. | TDS