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I don't know the woman in the poem but I do know that after she huffed her way out the door, she sat down in her White Suburban and put two tires through the grass as she turned right out of the parking lot.

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Sigh. I’ve never understood that kind of entitlement and lack of compassion. (While acknowledging there have almost certainly been places I am blind to my own entitlement and lack of confession.). But I am excited that my copy of “One Sentence Journal” just arrived and I’ll get to start reading it this week!

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May 3, 2022Liked by Chris La Tray

I also stopped feeding the birds about two months ago here in CT. They’ve still been around because it’s spring and there’s plenty of natural snacks to be had but in less numbers and the cat is pretty bored without his usual window entertainment. Fortunately my neighborhood chicken flocks all seem to be doing well and I hope the two sassy geese up the road are good. I can’t see their enclosure from the street-they do like to get out occasionally and waddle down the driveway to the curb though.

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May 2, 2022Liked by Chris La Tray

That god awful massacre at Rembrandt Enterprises slipped right past my radar. Thanks for waking me up. I am dumbfounded.

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founding

I just went to the link to The Guardian story about the burning of the hens. I had no idea. That story is terrifying. My parents live in the rural South, and in their impoverished county, the biggest employer is called Amick's farm, a chicken slaughter house, which is where most of the county's majority black and brown residents work. My parents are white, and moved to the country as upper middle class white folks are bound to do once they retire to "get away" from the city... sigh.... Well, now, the white male owner of the chicken factor worked with a company based, I believe in Indiana, to open up Pet Foods Inc, a HUGE dog food processing plant, that is just beyond the creek behind my parents' 40 acre parcel. The stench on some days is awful, as well as the noise. In addition, their quiet country roads are now bombarded at all hours of the night with semi-trucks who are bringing the offal from the chicken factory to the dog food factory. I found a red-tailed Hawk killed by the side of the road, to which my birder father guessed had been hit by the windshield of a semi-truck. I share all of this only to say yes, it's all connected. I damn well wish more people who could thought about where their food comes from. It's dangerous for it to be controlled by so few companies.

Oh and I appreciated your poem very much too.

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Great poem. yeah I worked retail for years too. Also thanks for the bird flu heads-up, my state is also recommending we take down our bird feeders.

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May 1, 2022Liked by Chris La Tray

I love getting glimpses into a part of your world. Although I don't live in the Western part of the U.S. anymore, I've been the (polite) tourist who has seen many of the places you mention. Hopefully someday I will return and continue to explore.

I know of that woman in the poem, except she doesn't like to read and prefers her news spoon-fed from her TV. As Chris Danforth mentioned, she drives a white SUV. She expects the world to kow-tow to her, getting louder whenever afflicted. My sanity requires me maintain my distance as much as possible.

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May 1, 2022Liked by Chris La Tray

Hi Chris,

Cool. That is the longest sentence I have ever read. The first time through, I interpreted “loaded” as intoxicated, and subsequently realized that you meant flush with The Green. Hahahahaha! I cannot be accused of being the sharpest arrow in the quiver! This lady of whom you write, although terribly irritating, must be suffering at some level, as she is willing to cause others such massive aggravation over an issue(forgive the pun), of such relative insignificance. Just my take. Great poem.

Sincerely,

Melissa

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