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December 2nd, 2018

My aunt, Dr. Azra Raza, had sent an invitation to a fundraiser she does every year called the Nearness of Your Concert. It raises funds for cancer research. This year, like last year, Hugh Jackman is set to host. Bill and Hillary Clinton, Joe and Jill Biden, James Taylor, and others will be on-hand.

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December 1st, 2018

HoCo Dem Clubs holiday party was from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at Ridgley Run Community Center in Jessup. Was fun! I was doing double duty as Vice President of the Ellicott City and Western Howard Democratic Club and At-Large Board Member of the Columbia Democratic Club.

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On My Activist Tutor, My Sister, Dr. Zaneb Khan Beams, M.D.

Looking back on it 11 months later, it feels like a full-circle moment in my life that my sister, Dr. Zaneb Beams, M.D. suggested I volunteer with Byron MacFarlane’s campaign for Register of Wills here in Howard County. My first meeting with him over Korean food amidst the hustle and bustle of the Whole Foods in downtown Columbia set in motion one of the best years of my life.

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Organizing People, Money, Books, TV Clips, and Stuff

As a chatty, sensitive, and often anxious child, I was drawn to ways of imposing order on the chaos of life. I see now that chaos itself can be orderly, beautiful, and worthy of embrace. As a beautiful Zen Buddhist saying goes, “The bad news is: you’re falling through the air with no parachute.

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Limerick #5

An organizer named Tyler
Knew action caused change to occur
So he inspired others
He stirred sisters and brothers
And a Blue wave was coming for sure

I’m grateful for your readership! Check back with me each week here at politicalpoetrypastiche as my linguistic, literary, and generally loquacious involvement in local politics takes on a mélange of prose and poetry genres.

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Int/Ext: My Car, Route 40 – Day

Miss Carole Fisher, a HoCo political activist, mother-to-five, friend-to-many-especially-me, and I were headed to a gun violence prevention training in Baltimore from her home in Ellicott City, Maryland. She suggested we nix the curt, oddly-toned instructions my phone’s GPS was barking at us and offered to guide me down Route 40 all the way there.

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Limerick #2

A politician who was named Eric
Had a flair for all things numeric
District 12 was the hood
‘Ere he did so much good
And his hugs were without compare-ic

Limerick #1

There once was a Dem named Becca
So cute you’d ask, “What the heck-a?”
She worked as an E-S-Q
But was a volunteer-advocate, too
And canvassed from Medina to Mecca

Limerick #4

In South Asia, we say her name “SUFF-a”
But EFL-speakers love to say “SAAF-a”
After all, that’s good too
‘Cuz in Gujrati and Urdu
It’d translate to mean that she’s “CLEAN-a”

An innocent grin
A 16-person win
And that’s how she do
But she’s not about spin

She’ll ask you to please come and phone bank
And when you say, “yes,” she’ll make sure to thank
She’s got a big mouth, too
Knows how to make you cuckoo
Though her sass is merely a prank