Alaska Series

In the early '60s, I spent four summers in King Cove, Alaska where I worked as part of the Filipino crew. Filipino men had trekked north since the '20s and '30s  where they'd canned King, Silver, Reds, Chum and Pink salmon.   Now, most of them were elders who we affectionately called "Manongs" or uncles.  My uncle Bob and my father had all made this journey.   I penned these works as part of a coming of age and as a tribute to those pioneers who made it possible to attend college.  The following poems are included in a forthcoming anthology about the Asian American Experience from the University of Santa Cruz.

Boeing Field -  1963

A summer evening, my folks drive us to Boeing Field.

Linda and I silently sit the back seat.   

My first time to the canneries.  Mahogany men cram the airport.

Their hard, brown Pinoy faces rim the waiting area.

“Young boys” like me cluster in close uncertainty.

I squeeze her picture tight against my chest.  

In my duffle, the Four Tops and Righteous Brothers. 

We hug goodbyes before I board for Cold Bay.  

A final kiss. I cross the tarmac.

Fly north.

  

Alaska Series No. 2

Becoming Alaskero

We depart Boeing Field, wedged among

Manong migrants blown north to can salmon …

their summer hiatus from asparagus fields

and almond orchards.  Our Reeve Aleutian circles

Cold Bay’s fog-laced clutch of corrugated huts,

nestled on grizzled ground and shrub-terrain. 

We descend into our frigid cloud breaths.

Huddle in warm pool hall.   Like netted fish,

we wait a tender bound for King Cove.

Alaska Series No. 3