Saturday, April 16, 2011

Family (continued)

Uncle Frank

Hunched in thought,

futility of resistance sensed,

he relaxes into the inevitable.

His opponent, a circumspect young 
black man,
watches my uncle's torment.

Both mathematicians, they silently honor

the equations of combat
the painful joy of engagement.


Checkmate!

* Franciso Flor first came to the United States in the early '50s to study mathematics at the University of Washington.  After a teaching career at Adamson University, Manila, he returned in 1968 with his family and taught at Seattle Vocational Institute.  A lover of chess, he asked if I knew anyone who he could play.  A dear friend, Hanigen Pitri, also a math teacher, agreed to a few games.   The following year, my uncle passed away.  I always recall his joy at playing, though he lost all three matches.


A Mother's Sign

Daphne, mother's favorite, 
blossoms in cool, early Spring.
Its pink-white flowers offer brief fragrance,
then pass until another season.

Catalina and I prepare for nuptuals
this warm July.  Our florist, Mitch
gathers purple iris for St. Ignatius Chapel.
For bride and bridesmaids, he
bouquets calla lilies to symbolize
her Latino heritage.
I wear a barong Tagalog
featuring stephanotis.
The boutonnieres arrrive
mixed with daphne.

"They bloomed yesterday.
Mom blessed your wedding."
Mitch says.

* Catalina and I married in July 2009 two years following  my mother, Louise Flor, died.  In the heat of mid-summer, daphne actually bloomed in Mitch Acevedo's yard the day before the wedding.  It was mom's favorite flower.

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