Steve Westby
@stevewestby.bsky.social
Psychologist (but not yours). Poet. Father of two. Progressive. Author of "By Way of Introduction" (https://a.co/d/dVigNQl)
Pinned
Steve Westby
@stevewestby.bsky.social
· Mar 7
we need them
need the hope of saplings
the steady growth of youthful trees
the reminder of vitality
and finitude
that we too will offer
what shade we can
return to earth
and be reborn
#vss365
Copse
need the hope of saplings
the steady growth of youthful trees
the reminder of vitality
and finitude
that we too will offer
what shade we can
return to earth
and be reborn
#vss365
Copse
#Reflection
how sad it must be
to move through life
seeing only mirrors
each unique face,
each wondrous soul,
reduced only to
source and need
instead of turning outward,
so the radiant world
might finally
see itself
#vss365
how sad it must be
to move through life
seeing only mirrors
each unique face,
each wondrous soul,
reduced only to
source and need
instead of turning outward,
so the radiant world
might finally
see itself
#vss365
November 26, 2025 at 1:25 PM
#Reflection
how sad it must be
to move through life
seeing only mirrors
each unique face,
each wondrous soul,
reduced only to
source and need
instead of turning outward,
so the radiant world
might finally
see itself
#vss365
how sad it must be
to move through life
seeing only mirrors
each unique face,
each wondrous soul,
reduced only to
source and need
instead of turning outward,
so the radiant world
might finally
see itself
#vss365
#Wonderment
we disdain
as unserious
those moments
when reality
slips past our filters
and captures
the heart
with guileless
wonder
#vss365
we disdain
as unserious
those moments
when reality
slips past our filters
and captures
the heart
with guileless
wonder
#vss365
November 26, 2025 at 3:24 AM
#Wonderment
we disdain
as unserious
those moments
when reality
slips past our filters
and captures
the heart
with guileless
wonder
#vss365
we disdain
as unserious
those moments
when reality
slips past our filters
and captures
the heart
with guileless
wonder
#vss365
#Demolish
there is no dynamite.
try as we might
to erase despair,
it merely shifts
and grows
until one day
we invite it to sit,
feed it the one thing
it always needed,
and smile
as darkness grows
a human face.
#retroartprompt
there is no dynamite.
try as we might
to erase despair,
it merely shifts
and grows
until one day
we invite it to sit,
feed it the one thing
it always needed,
and smile
as darkness grows
a human face.
#retroartprompt
November 24, 2025 at 1:11 PM
#Demolish
there is no dynamite.
try as we might
to erase despair,
it merely shifts
and grows
until one day
we invite it to sit,
feed it the one thing
it always needed,
and smile
as darkness grows
a human face.
#retroartprompt
there is no dynamite.
try as we might
to erase despair,
it merely shifts
and grows
until one day
we invite it to sit,
feed it the one thing
it always needed,
and smile
as darkness grows
a human face.
#retroartprompt
November 24, 2025 at 12:10 PM
Reposted by Steve Westby
The reason people freak out and run from Trump’s racist goon squad is they are literally disappearing people. www.latimes.com/politics/sto...
November 23, 2025 at 3:42 AM
The reason people freak out and run from Trump’s racist goon squad is they are literally disappearing people. www.latimes.com/politics/sto...
#Achievable
you don't grow tomatoes,
you hear them
how they adore soft soil
and the right amount of water
their need for space,
for shade,
for sun
and the small protections
from what would harm them
listen
they teach the secret
to happiness:
tend gently
to what aches
#vss365
you don't grow tomatoes,
you hear them
how they adore soft soil
and the right amount of water
their need for space,
for shade,
for sun
and the small protections
from what would harm them
listen
they teach the secret
to happiness:
tend gently
to what aches
#vss365
November 23, 2025 at 1:01 PM
#Achievable
you don't grow tomatoes,
you hear them
how they adore soft soil
and the right amount of water
their need for space,
for shade,
for sun
and the small protections
from what would harm them
listen
they teach the secret
to happiness:
tend gently
to what aches
#vss365
you don't grow tomatoes,
you hear them
how they adore soft soil
and the right amount of water
their need for space,
for shade,
for sun
and the small protections
from what would harm them
listen
they teach the secret
to happiness:
tend gently
to what aches
#vss365
#Measurable
to satisfy forms
we take agony
and scale it
ask you to pin down
with number
how loss constricts the heart
how despair's tendrils
leech joy
from even gentleness
how fury
burns connection
to cinder
and yet
you answer
I guess...
six?
#vss365
to satisfy forms
we take agony
and scale it
ask you to pin down
with number
how loss constricts the heart
how despair's tendrils
leech joy
from even gentleness
how fury
burns connection
to cinder
and yet
you answer
I guess...
six?
#vss365
November 22, 2025 at 12:54 PM
#Measurable
to satisfy forms
we take agony
and scale it
ask you to pin down
with number
how loss constricts the heart
how despair's tendrils
leech joy
from even gentleness
how fury
burns connection
to cinder
and yet
you answer
I guess...
six?
#vss365
to satisfy forms
we take agony
and scale it
ask you to pin down
with number
how loss constricts the heart
how despair's tendrils
leech joy
from even gentleness
how fury
burns connection
to cinder
and yet
you answer
I guess...
six?
#vss365
Reposted by Steve Westby
If you receive an illegal order, you have a duty to disobey.
This isn’t controversial.
A President calling for the execution of anyone who reminds service members of this oath is showing us why the duty to disobey illegal orders is so important in the first place.
This isn’t controversial.
A President calling for the execution of anyone who reminds service members of this oath is showing us why the duty to disobey illegal orders is so important in the first place.
November 21, 2025 at 12:14 AM
If you receive an illegal order, you have a duty to disobey.
This isn’t controversial.
A President calling for the execution of anyone who reminds service members of this oath is showing us why the duty to disobey illegal orders is so important in the first place.
This isn’t controversial.
A President calling for the execution of anyone who reminds service members of this oath is showing us why the duty to disobey illegal orders is so important in the first place.
November 21, 2025 at 12:38 PM
November 20, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Reposted by Steve Westby
I mean, look, I'm not a reporter, so who am I to talk?
But on a day where the president both just called a woman reporter "Piggy" and is celebrating someone who had people bone saw apart one of my colleagues, I might just be a little ready to defend my colleagues and profession.
But that's just me
But on a day where the president both just called a woman reporter "Piggy" and is celebrating someone who had people bone saw apart one of my colleagues, I might just be a little ready to defend my colleagues and profession.
But that's just me
November 18, 2025 at 5:26 PM
I mean, look, I'm not a reporter, so who am I to talk?
But on a day where the president both just called a woman reporter "Piggy" and is celebrating someone who had people bone saw apart one of my colleagues, I might just be a little ready to defend my colleagues and profession.
But that's just me
But on a day where the president both just called a woman reporter "Piggy" and is celebrating someone who had people bone saw apart one of my colleagues, I might just be a little ready to defend my colleagues and profession.
But that's just me
please, join me
beyond escape,
beyond loathing
or mistrust
to find sacrament
in glial cells,
the divine whisper
buried deep
inside signals
we call emotion.
salvation is not dressed
in holiday ornament,
but in the discovery
of beauty
already inside us.
#poetry
beyond escape,
beyond loathing
or mistrust
to find sacrament
in glial cells,
the divine whisper
buried deep
inside signals
we call emotion.
salvation is not dressed
in holiday ornament,
but in the discovery
of beauty
already inside us.
#poetry
November 18, 2025 at 2:33 PM
please, join me
beyond escape,
beyond loathing
or mistrust
to find sacrament
in glial cells,
the divine whisper
buried deep
inside signals
we call emotion.
salvation is not dressed
in holiday ornament,
but in the discovery
of beauty
already inside us.
#poetry
beyond escape,
beyond loathing
or mistrust
to find sacrament
in glial cells,
the divine whisper
buried deep
inside signals
we call emotion.
salvation is not dressed
in holiday ornament,
but in the discovery
of beauty
already inside us.
#poetry
#Occultism
I know it feels
the world has turned against you,
and along comes this man
in cartoonish orange
promising to get it back.
but listen, please
let me see your face.
there is no magic here,
only control and hate,
and history’s oldest lesson
about fear.
#retroartprompt
I know it feels
the world has turned against you,
and along comes this man
in cartoonish orange
promising to get it back.
but listen, please
let me see your face.
there is no magic here,
only control and hate,
and history’s oldest lesson
about fear.
#retroartprompt
November 18, 2025 at 12:15 PM
#Occultism
I know it feels
the world has turned against you,
and along comes this man
in cartoonish orange
promising to get it back.
but listen, please
let me see your face.
there is no magic here,
only control and hate,
and history’s oldest lesson
about fear.
#retroartprompt
I know it feels
the world has turned against you,
and along comes this man
in cartoonish orange
promising to get it back.
but listen, please
let me see your face.
there is no magic here,
only control and hate,
and history’s oldest lesson
about fear.
#retroartprompt
They kidnapped a baby.
November 18, 2025 at 11:57 AM
They kidnapped a baby.
Squalor
a friend told me
of someone being an ass,
and how strong
his impulse was
to hit him.
and I wondered
about the ghosts
inside the man
so threatened
by his genius
and the one
inside my friend,
so wounded
that no one saw.
#poetry
a friend told me
of someone being an ass,
and how strong
his impulse was
to hit him.
and I wondered
about the ghosts
inside the man
so threatened
by his genius
and the one
inside my friend,
so wounded
that no one saw.
#poetry
November 17, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Squalor
a friend told me
of someone being an ass,
and how strong
his impulse was
to hit him.
and I wondered
about the ghosts
inside the man
so threatened
by his genius
and the one
inside my friend,
so wounded
that no one saw.
#poetry
a friend told me
of someone being an ass,
and how strong
his impulse was
to hit him.
and I wondered
about the ghosts
inside the man
so threatened
by his genius
and the one
inside my friend,
so wounded
that no one saw.
#poetry
#Echo
each moment
a mix of echo and now,
the mind searching, anticipating,
making story
out of the uncertain
and the fear and longing
of ages past
linger
#retroartprompt
each moment
a mix of echo and now,
the mind searching, anticipating,
making story
out of the uncertain
and the fear and longing
of ages past
linger
#retroartprompt
November 17, 2025 at 2:04 PM
#Echo
each moment
a mix of echo and now,
the mind searching, anticipating,
making story
out of the uncertain
and the fear and longing
of ages past
linger
#retroartprompt
each moment
a mix of echo and now,
the mind searching, anticipating,
making story
out of the uncertain
and the fear and longing
of ages past
linger
#retroartprompt
Reposted by Steve Westby
This is Trump’s legacy, the unleashing his own secret (or not-so-secret) police in America. It’s horrifying and blatantly racist.
5 headlines tonight on Charlotte Observer’s homepage:
“Manolo's Bakery closes to protect customers”
“Church members flee as federal agents arrive”
“Super G executive describes agents dragging out teen employee”
“Border Patrol questions people at Walmart”
“Border Patrol sweep sparks fear”
“Manolo's Bakery closes to protect customers”
“Church members flee as federal agents arrive”
“Super G executive describes agents dragging out teen employee”
“Border Patrol questions people at Walmart”
“Border Patrol sweep sparks fear”
November 17, 2025 at 12:22 PM
This is Trump’s legacy, the unleashing his own secret (or not-so-secret) police in America. It’s horrifying and blatantly racist.