Author Archive | Martha Shelley

I write this on MLK day. My Israeli friend and ex-lover Ruth, who was born in Poland, told me that during World War II, her grandmother and a number of other Jews were hiding in an attic. They had to be very, very quiet so as not to tip off anyone who came to the […]

When I was 25, I organized the first gay protest march after the Stonewall Riots. Up to the point where we assembled in Washington Square Park I was scared, thinking of MLK’s assassination and of how many people hated gays and would have been willing to shoot us. On that day and on several other […]

You’ve read about the evacuation of Afghans who are likely targets for Taliban assassination. Today I’m sharing a story written by Phyllis Chesler about the heroic efforts to provide food and medical care to  those still living there, who at present have no hope of getting out. Much of the need is prenatal and postnatal […]

As I wrote in previous posts, one of my childhood ambitions was to become an astronaut, to be the first little girl on Mars. Astronomy was a related passion. While I never entered either field, the heavens still thrill my earthbound self when I take out the garbage at night or lock up the chickens. […]

**See below today’s story for updates on some recent posts, re two-legged snakes.** As a child I was pretty well behaved. But during summer vacation, when we moved to the Catskills to escape New York’s scorching streets, I managed to find trouble. I caught snakes, experimented on an unfortunate frog, hexed an older girl, and […]

This land is my land It is not your land If you don’t get off I’ll blow your head off I’m sure readers have heard the parody of the Woody Guthrie song, as well as the saying attributed to both Mark Twain and Will Rogers: “Buy land—they’re not making it anymore.” Most of us want […]

First: an update re the last post, for those readers who live in areas without a Kaiser HMO. Kaiser backed down from demanding a two-tier wage structure, and has reached a tentative settlement with the union. Details aren’t forthcoming. I imagine that the wage increase is pretty minimal, certainly less than the current rate of […]

First the news of the health care empire: Strikes are happening all over the country, and Portland is no exception. This month 96% of the nurses and health care workers at Kaiser in Oregon and southwest Washington voted to authorize a strike. For those who live in other parts of the country, this mammoth HMO […]

1) I was astonished to find that guys like my poetry, too. Here are some of their comments on Released From the Wheel: Martha is a world-class poet! –Brad Yazzolino, artist, filmmaker I loved your book, Released from the Wheel, so lyrical and full of wonder. You’re able to achieve, through a sparsity of language, […]

After Max and I moved to the little town of Etna, we developed routines. On Saturdays we drove the 30 miles over the hill to Yreka, to shop at the supermarket, take out books from the local Siskiyou County Library, and eat at a Mexican restaurant. During the week we read, wrote, hiked, and sometimes […]