In the absence of sunlight, in the absence of a genuine river, I blew air into a balloon. I gave my breath over to its empty shape. I filled & pinched & no matter how fast I tied it off, how tight & swift, the air, my own, drained out. And here I was again and here you were. Watching? No, imagining. So think what this balloon might represent if we passed it back and forth and took turns adding our breath. What the quick tying might. And our marveling at its lovely shape, like an egg but also a tear-drop. Our hands on it, our fingerprints darkening its surface all powdery and matte at first, with a bare sheen. Think of the balloon sent into a crowd at a party. How that crowd might move to keep it in the air, protective and playful, almost flirting with itself, a crowd with light volleys will send & resend a balloon upwards, high above their heads. Until it drifts down and asks to be touched by them again. And with such innocent gestures, they do. Though eventually they too will tire of this. I can’t just say innocent; I know that. But I’m going to say innocent. Innocent as a balloon not meant to last. Think of it handed back and forth between us.
Ari Banias is the author of Anybody (W.W. Norton, 2016). He lives in Berkeley, CA, where he teaches poetry and works with small press books.
Writer/Director Akira Kurosawa Uncredited and Undated Photograph
“The censors were so far gone as to find the following sentence obscene: ‘The factory gate waited for the student workers, thrown open in longing.’ What can I say? This obscenity verdict was handed down by a censor in response to my script for my 1944 film about a girls’ volunteer corps, Ichiban utsukushiku (The Most Beautiful). I could not fathom what it was he found to be obscene about this sentence. Probably none of you can either. But for the mentally disturbed censor this sentence was unquestionably obscene. He explained that the word ‘gate’ very vividly suggested to him the vagina! For these people suffering from sexual manias, anything and everything made them feel carnal desire. Because they were obscene themselves, everything seen through their obscene eyes naturally became obscene. Nothing more or less than a case of sexual pathology.” Akira Kurosawa, “Something Like an Autobiography” 1981
For all the people who have followed on Tumblr the past few years, big thank you. Met some great people from here, and still shocked to see this platform change.
I can go on and on, but the best thing to say is - those people you follow and love their work - Keep following. Just will be in a different place. We know how to use the internet so keep using it. Support those if you can as well, to ensure things stay wide open and not just subject to prudes and fear.
In response to the NSFW ban being enacted by Tumblr Staff, on December 17th 2018 I propose that we all log off of our Tumblr accounts for 24 hours.
The lack of respect and communication between staff and users is stark. Users have been begging staff to delete the porn bot outbreak, which has plagued the website for well over a year. The porn bots oftentimes send people asks and messages, trying to get them to go to a website full of viruses. They also spam advertisements on others posts.
Users have also begged that Tumblr ban neo-nazis, child porn, and pedophiles, all which run rampant on the site. The site/app got so bad that it was taken off the app store.
However, instead of answering the users, Tumblr has instead taken the liberty to ban all NSFW content, regardless of age. But users have already run into issues of their SFW content being marked as sensitive and being flagged as NSFW, not allowing them to share their work.
Not only does this discriminate again content creators, but it also discriminates against sex workers. Disgustingly, the ban will be enacted on December 17 which is also International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers.
This ban is disgusting, and while I (and plenty of others) welcome porn bots and child porn being banned, the Tumblr filtration system is broken. It tags artistic work’s nipples as NSFW (when it is art), it tags SFW art as NSFW (when it is not), and does not stop the porn bots, neo-nazis and dozens of other issues.
This ban is discriminatory. This ban is ineffective. This ban is unacceptable.
To protest, log off of your Tumblr account for the entirety of November 17th. Log off at 12 am EST or 9PM PST and stay off for 24 hours. Don’t post. Don’t log on. Don’t even visit the website. Don’t give them that sweet ad revenue.
Tumblr’s stock has already taken a hard hit. Let’s make it tank. Maybe then they will listen to the users.
