Sometimes it seems like the internet stars just line up.
The other day, I happened across the New York Times Haiku Bot. As if I needed another reason to love the NYT; the times Haiku Bot generates "serendipitous poetry" from the times homepage. The one above, I found particularly striking and poignant so I took a screencap and continued thumbing through the haikus. A few hours later, I went back to the screencap and took a second to read beyond the haiku at the name associated with the poem: Edith Windsor. This immediately reminded me of another internets discovery that I thought would be good to pair with this haiku.
Now, I'm hoping that none of you have been living under a rock these past few weeks and are aware of the ongoing discussion with regards to same-sex marriage and the SCOTUS. Edith Windsor is a name that you've probably heard of if you've been paying attention to these discussions in relation to the case United States v. Windsor and her 40-year relationship with Thea Spyer.
As a self-professed socially liberal history major, I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I did not know who Edith Windsor was until about 2 weeks ago, when I stumbled upon the trailer to the documentary Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement, after which I watched the full-length documentary.
While I will save the details of my politics for a future post, I felt compelled to share both the haiku as well as the documentary with those who might read my blog. I do not know if what I share will either confirm or challenge your current perspective on marriage - whatever that might be - but I hope it provides some food for thought.
I'll leave you with this: somewhere in my internet explorations today I remember seeing the quote "Protect what you love." I spent part of my train ride home thinking about what it is that I love and wish to protect, and determined that one of those things was "love" itself. And having watched A Very Long Engagement, I can say that I found Edie & Thea's love to be a love that few are so lucky to find; a love that I want to protect.
d.
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