On Merit: 100 Days (51)

Tying Up Loose Ends

Day 51:

My neighbor’s tulips, and a few more rows on the white panel. I am loving how this bamboo yarn crochets up, how the rows of double crochet stitches in this pattern create little flowers in the mesh. And the finished Into The Woods Quilt! The Janus School Gala is this Saturday. Click the LINK for tickets, to make a donation, or to find out how to bid for auction items online!

Today’s poem is a haibun, a form developed in the 17th century by history’s most renowned haiku poet, Matsuo Bashō. It begins with a short piece of prose, and ends with a haiku commentary on the prose.

Merit
a haibun
by Beth Weaver-Kreider

Mr. Hegseth claims his fighting force will be solely based on merit (by which he means he will not accept women), a word which can only be described as ironic, coming from a drunk chosen from the daytime TV couch, who had mismanaged every business he attempted to lead. Meritorious comes from the Latin verb mereō, which means “to earn, or to deserve.” His role might better be described as meretricious, which means empty and gaudy and lacking in true value. Meretrix, from the Latin, is a feminine noun rooted also in mereō, referring to women who earned their living from prostitution. Like Hegseth, the language devalues the inherent merit of women.

the worth of women
is not determined by the
opinions of men

#The100DayProject
@dothe100dayproject
#poemaday
#NationalPoetryMonth