Back of Book Scripts No. 43

In-Person Soak Circles to begin in the New Year

Limited spots for attendees participating virtually

Soak Circle – Monday, Jan 13We’ll be starting a new set of circles for 2025 in just a few weeks. If you're interested, feel free to reach out for more details. If you've joined in the past, I’ll be sending out an invitation later this week. We’re gathering on a very special the full moon, the Wolf Moon, along with a few other twinoccasions. 😏

DIY Lavender WreathLast weekend, a few bushels of lavender at the farmer’s market caught my eye. I had actually gone there hoping to pick up some eucalyptus, but then the lavender called to me. I remembered I’d been wanting to make a lavender wreath, so that’s exactly what I did! Here's the simple DIY I followed to create the lavender wreath.

Support the Script ShopThis week in our script shop, we’re showing support for Torkwase-Khem Love — a true heart-to-heart friend and sister. Join us in supporting their beautiful art. If you're based in Harlem or New York, we can arrange for pickup or drop-off. If you're further afield, just reach out via email to let us know what you'd like to order. These pieces are made with love and care.

🛒🛒🛒🛒🛒

This Week:

Sowing Good Vibes by Torkwase-Khem Love

@natty8dread

Known as T.K. to friends and family, Torkwase-Khem is an artist who contains multitudes. She finds grounding in growing herbs and sewing functional items for the home and kitchen. Today, she offers the Back of Book Scripts community handcrafted bowl cozies (pictured below) and colorful aprons.

These make thoughtful gifts for you and your loved ones. Join us in supporting this talented artist, doula, teacher, and craftswoman. Deliveries will ship from New York. For purchases or pickups, simply reply to this email at [email protected]!

Pricing:

Aprons | $40 - $50

Cozies | $10

Email: [email protected]

🌕 No. 43 - As we walked home…

As John and I walked home, weighed down with bags and push carts, what looked like a light pole caught my attention. It stood much higher in the indigo-colored sky, and I could not at first find the standing piece keeping it lifted into the sky. I only saw the light.

And then, I looked again and saw that what I thought was a light pole was, in fact, light emanating from the Moon. The Moon, which was not quite full, somewhat elliptical and half the size of its circular shape, this Moon to me looked like a set light or a large flashlight shining and revealing all happening on this wide Harlem boulevard.

The full-blown light and its positioning gave me the sense that John and I were walking through a set. A Truman Show kind of set, which is a movie, if you haven’t seen it, where the main character, Truman, played by Jim Carey, finally realizes that his entire life was being filmed as a TV show.

But, what if the Moon was a light pole? What if someone had placed it there to turn on as the sun dimmed, to offer to all within reach a bit of luz? As I prepared this piece, I thought of the poet, Kwame Dawes, and his love for lots of light, particularly when writing. I think, at the recently held conference Furious Flower, he said he has a ton of lamps in his office or at least that the space is very well lit.

He, Dawes, might have appreciated the Moon that night, because it offered even in its half-shape the opening towards clarity. It allowed even John and I to know where to go and where to veer away from. Because light can show you what’s happening in a way that you can see very clearly that that is a place I’d like to be, being able to see the details and intricacy of what lies before you. At the same time, light can show you very clearly and in detailed fashion, the things that you might choose to avoid.

I come back to a short memory of the full Moon shared by Malaika, a participant at one of the full Moon soak circles. We were speaking about the Moon, its significance, its symbolism, and its power. She shared that when she lived on the Navajo reservation, it was really only by the light of the full Moon that you could really finally see the roads at night.

The Moon offered in this oversized way an opportunity for clarity of monumental size. The fact that the Moon in its fullness also could offer light on the roads of the reservation and allow for passageway towards where you are headed, and at the same time let you know that this passage may be blocked for this or that reason.

So when I saw the Moon, this light pole here, and the offering of clarity on this passageway in Harlem, I couldn’t help but think that maybe we were all on a set. Maybe even we were characters, actors within a movie. Was it a self-directed type of thing, where we all sort of improvised our next steps? Or was someone there near the light pole twisting and turning it as needed, offering light and shadow at the same time, was someone also offering direction? Putting words and actions into our mouths?

If this is a play, have I acted well? Have I conveyed meaning through my actions, expressions through my body language? If this is a play, have I gotten through a conflict? A predicament? Have I come out on the other side? If this is a play, were my lines well given and well spent? Was I a compelling actor? Did I convince you of my story?

Why, Back of Book? or…BOBs 😏

The name "Back of Book Scripts" holds personal significance. It's a combination of my college professor's advice to put useful information in one’s “back-pocket,” as well as my mother's (and now my own) habit of jotting down numbers, notes and all the things on the backs of envelopes, books, etc. These scribbles of import, or SOI for short, contain so many ranges of helpful notes and things to remember.

These scripts are a chronicle of community & relationship, and how we show up in the world. They touch on various topics, experiences, day-to-day and literary notes.

This is a list of scripts of the inspiring sort.

With love on this wintery day in NYC,

Nzingha