EQUINOX AT THE BELLTOWER
The squirrel hauls a belly sash
of acorns, the shoes scuff, and
any of these faces might kiss
the sun for its newfound shine.
Their song is ringing.
Round the marble cracks and slim
branches, each singing a melody of
buds, though winter teases, winter
teases. Still, there is ease in this.
There, song is ringing.
The diag scuttles plain as day, the
students crustaceans swarming at
the decay, coming out of shells to
pincer the waking world. Shhhh-
They’re a song, ringing.
Good afternoon everybody! I hope that you all are doing well! I had a wonderful weekend that I wanted to share with you all. Yesterday was Holi, the Festival of Colors, my absolutely favorite Hindu festival. We all get together, wear white, and play tag with colorful powder, adorning each other in beautiful hues of pink, orange, yellow, blue, red, and more. If you are interested in reading more about Holi check out my post 
In this post, I wanted to share something else besides Holi. A few weeks back, I was presented with a beautiful opportunity. I was hired by the Ypsilanti Public Library to demonstrate and teach young kids and families how to make Rangoli. Rangoli is the art of adorning pavements and house floors with colored powder or fine colored sand. Traditionally, during holidays, homes and temples are decorated with beautiful mandalas. Generally, natural and pure products are used to create these beautiful designs. When I did Rangoli this time, I used fine colored sand in squeeze bottles to make intricate designs. We decided this could be the best form of creating the Rangoli because it is easy to handle by children.
This was a really wonderful day. I demonstrated how Rangoli is made, creating original designs on the floor of the library. Kids watched and then were allowed to go wild, using the bright colors to create their own abstract and wonderful creations. The kids, of all ages ranging from toddlers to pre-teens, were very sweet, loved learning about the history of Rangoli, and created their own wonderful art!
This short Nigerian folktale explains, quite obviously by its title, why the sun and the moon live in the sky. The story was officially published in 1910
