Thursday, June 30, 2011

Nature (continued)

Mom and Dad's Fault

Sister Irma's boney finger pierces my chest.
Returning to my second grade classroom following recess,
I flash someone "the bird."
Second grader, I'd seen older boys use the sign.
I ask Joe, a schoolmate, what it meant.

At 51, I dribble up-court.
Sister Irma's finger stabs me again.
"I probably ate too quickly.  It's heartburn."
Game over, I head home.
Pop a half-dozen Rolaids.  Relax in bed.
"It'll be gone in the morning."

No such luck.
Days later, cardiologist hover over me.
Announce I need a quadruple bypass.
"But, I don't smoke, eat badly and I work out regularly."

"Genetics."

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Nature (continued)

Apple trees blossom in yard,
September sun will yield fruit.
I shall harvest its riches.
Years pass, deeper grow my roots.

Monday, June 27, 2011

On Station - 1967-68

I lay on my couch
beneath a picture window.
Spend hours scanning Perseid showers
dissecting an August night.

In the South Pacific years earlier,
I witnessed Soviet missiles
knife earth's atmosphere.
Perilous bursts in air.
A thousand cuts in the evening sky.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Nature (continued)

Flocks of geese flew overhead.
Their formation swiftly sped.
Honking loud supportive calls,
Leaders changed.  Flapping wings raised all.

Nature (continued)

Internetted

we surf rectangles
of flawless smiles, hair and skin.
search click-on pics,
seek perfection and proclivities,
eliminate toads and fairy princesses...
discover each other

initial impressions important:
what do we share?  fun, favorite things,
politics...religion.
advanced signs:  libra, acquarius
eastern influences:  horse, ram, monkey

was love in our stars?

honesty and truth from inception.
modesty best!
exchange grettings and meet,
findng a partner and soul mate
seems simple
exciting!

sadder, maybe wiser,
I view your new profile
as you did mine.
we search again

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Nature (continued)




Fireweed Season, WestCrest

Fireweed now rusted,
We ramble past the colored foliage.
Ami and Pepper rush ahead,
kicking dust, sniffing all.

On top branch of a Sumac,
a solitary Ana stands guard.
No sense of passing season.
Others have fled to light,
warmth and greater forage.

My dogs and I remain.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Neighborhood (Continued)

Quiet Day

Warm weather drew me
to my morning's half-mowed lawn.
I brought a novel to read
as I considered yesterday's unfinished chore.
I'd tired after a few minutes
pushing and pulling the cutter
over mole-mounds rutting the uneven earth
and up the bank.

I sat on the wooden sun-warm steps
by the Ceanothus and watched bees
flit the flower blooms.  Nils restocked
his hive and its workers buzz
in and out of this small office tower.
A neighbor squirrel scurries the Japanese maple
scolded by two Stellar Jays.
Ladybugs surf the herb boxes
on leaves of garlic, cilantro and thyme.
Slug trails evaporate near the rocks
beyond the bitten hostas.

Catalina hung wind-chimes above the porch,
silent in this quiet day.
I open my book to another chapter.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

THE FAYTS (Filipino American Young Turks)

AUTHORS NOTE:  THE KICKOFF SCENE IS DRAWN FROM MY PLAY-IN-PROGRESS TITLED "THE FAYTS".  IN IT, BEN ADAMA, THE PROTAGONIST,  GIVES HIS KICKOFF SPEECH AND REVEALS HIS CHARACTER TRAITS.    HE SHOWS HIS MASK, DESIRES, FEARS AND STRENGTHS.   THE SCENE BEGINS WITH JOHN, HIS CAMPAIGN MANAGER, INTRODUCING HIM.  MARA IS A CONSULTANT SENT TO HELP HIM RAISE MONEY AND ORGANIZE.

                                                              SCENE _____
                                                            THE KICKOFF

(A CROWD OF SUPPORTERS HAS GATHERED AT CAMPAIGN HEADQUARTERS.  CHEERFUL MUSIC PLAYS LOUDLY IN THE BACKGROUND.  IT IS LOWERED WHEN JOHN AND BEN SPEAK.    BEN GREETS PEOPLE.  HE AND JOHN ARE DRESSED IN SPORTCOATS.  MARA DRESSES SEXILY IN A SHORT, RED DRESS AND HIGH HEELS. SHE WEARS A PEARL NECKLACE.)

THE CROWD DRESSES CASUALLY. A SMALL TABLE WITH WINE AND CHEESE IS AVAILABLE.  PEOPLE STAND AROUND EATING AND DRINKING.   THERE ARE A FEW MEMBERS OF THE PRESS.  POLITICAL SIGNS DOT THE WALLS.  A WELCOME AND SIGN-IN TABLE AROUND WHICH A SMALL LINE HAS FORMED IS AT THE DOORWAY. THE TABLE IS STAFFED BY A FEW SUPPORTERS. AVA IS NOT PRESENT.  MUSIC LOWERS.)

                            JOHN

WELCOME TO THE KICKOFF FOR OUR FRIEND BEN ADAMA WHO'S RUNNING FOR STATE SENATE.   YOU'VE KNOWN BEN AS A FRIEND, A NEIGHBOR…A TIRELESS WORKER IN OUR COMMUNITY WITH AN ESTABLISHED RECORD FOR SUPPORTING EQUALITY, HOUSING AND EMPLOYMENT.

BEN'S ONE OF US.  HE BRINGS A WEALTH OF EXPERIENCE DEVELOPING PROGRAMS.   HE'S DECIDED TO RUN FOR OFFICE.   WHEN HE WINS, HE'LL BE THE FIRST FILIPINO TO ACHIEVE THIS IN THE STATE.

(APPLAUSE AND NOISE FROM THE AUDIENCE.)

BEN WILL TELL US WHY HE'S RUNNING AND THEN TAKE QUESTIONS.    I GIVE YOU THE NEXT SENATOR FROM THIS DISTRICT….BEN ADAMA!

(MORE APPLAUSE, HOOTING.  SOME NOISEMAKERS.)

                           BEN 

THANKS, JOHN!   THANKS EVERYONE FOR COMING OUT.   SOMEONE ASKED ME WHY I WAS RUNNING.   (PAUSE)  THAT'S EASY…TO WIN!  (APPLAUSE.) 

SERIOUSLY, I'M RUNNING BECAUSE I CAN IMPROVE YOUR LIVES. I KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO GROW UP WITHOUT HAVING OPPORTUNITIES.

I  GREW UP IN CHINATOWN.  MY FATEHR WAS POOR. MY MOTHER LEFT. WE LIVED IN A ONE-BEDROOM APARTMENT FILLED WITH COCKROACHES. DAD SLEPT IN BED AND I SLEPT ON THE FLOOR. THE COCKROACHES NEVER SLEPT.

I HAD TO GUIDE MY FATHER,  MAX  AROUND THE CITY. HE'D GONE BLIND WHILE BOXING. HE WAS ALL BUT FORGOTTEN EXCEPT FOR A FEW FRIENDS.

ONE DAY, I TOOK HIM TO HIS FAVORITE POOL-HALL.  DAD OVERHEARD A GUY BULLYING HIS FRIENDS.  HE SAID, "BEN, TAKE ME OVER AND STAND ME IN FRONT OF THE GUY.   I HELPED HIM OVER.  

HE ASKED THE GUY, “WHY DON' YOU PICK ON SOMEONE WHO ISN'T AFRAID OF YOU?”

THE GUY RESPONDED, “WHO'S THAT?  YOU?  YOU OLD BLIND MAN!”  JUST AS HE FINISHED, DAD HIT HIM  WITH AN UPPER CUT.  COLDCOCKED HIM.  DAD TURNED TO ME AND SAID, “BEN, WE GOT TO GET OUTTA HERE.  RUN.” WE RAN…DAD TAPPING WITH HIS CANE. TAP, TAP, TAP… ME, SCARED SHITLESS.  

A COP YELLED:  “MAX, STOP.  THERE'S BEEN SOME TROUBLE AT THE POOL-HALL.  SEE ANYTHING?  WHAT'S UP?”

DAD RESPONDED, “ME NO SEE NOTHIN'!”   HE LET US GO.  HE KNEW MY FATHER. I LEARNED: WE GET PLACES IN LIFE BECAUSE OF WHO WE KNOW."  
    
(LAUGHTER FROM THE CROWD AND LOTS OF APPLAUSE.)

THIS STORY REMINDS ME OF MY ROOTS AND WHAT SO MANY  FILIPINOS EXPERIENCED.   DAD WAS A FIGHTER.  WHEN HIS DAYS IN THE RING ENDED, HE DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING.

HE WAS POOR...ABANDONED...UNRECOGNIZED.  I DETERMINED THAT I WOULDN'T BE FORGOTTEN.  THAT WOULD NOT HAPPEN TO ME.  I WOULD MAKE MY MARK.

I WANTED TO MAKE DAD PROUD.  SHOW HIM I'M A FIGHTER TOO...SHOW HIM THAT FILIPINOS COULD CONTRIBUTE AND ACHIEVE IN AMERICA...AND PROVE TO HIM I  COULD WIN.

I HAD FRIENDS GOING TO A CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL.  I THOUGHT THIS MIGHT BE A WAY OUT.  I DIDN'T HAVE MONEY FOR TUITION.  I GOT A JOB IN A RESTAURANT AFTER SCHOOL.  SUMMERS, I WORKED IN A GAS STATION.  I EARNED MONEY AND PAID TUITION.   I GOT INTO THE SCHOOL AND GRADUATED.

I JOINED THE MARINES AFTER AND SERVED.  WITH THE G.I. BILL, I COMPLETED COMMUNITY COLLEGE.  I MET MY WIFE AND STARTED A FAMILY.  SHE'S HOME WATCHING THE KIDS SO I COULD BE HERE.

I CAME BACK TO OUR COMMUNITY... OUR NEIGHBORHOOD.  I IMPROVED YOUR HOUSING.  BUILT A FOOD BANK.  ORGANIZED A TUTORING SERVICE FOR YOUR SCHOOLS.  I BELIEVE IN GIVING BACK...IN GIVING YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN OPPORTUNITIES THAT WEREN'T AVAILABLE TO ME.  I WANT YOU TO HAVE A CHANCE TO IMPROVE YOUR LIVES THE WAY I IMPROVED MINE.

I'M RUNNING BECAUSE I'LL DO THE JOB IN THE STATE FOR YOU.  I'LL GET YOU WHAT YOU DESERVE.  DAT THOUGHT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO EARN RESPECT AND BECOME PART OF AMERICA.  WE ALL DESERVE THAT.  I'LL MAKE HIM PROUD.  I'LL MAKE YOU PROUD.  WE CAN BE PART OF AMERICA.

YOU KNOW ME AND YOU CAN TRUST MY WORD!

(PAUSE.  HUGE APPLAUSE AND CHANTS: "BEN! BEN!)


I'VE KNOWN POVERTY AND ROSE ABOVE IT.  IF I CAN DO IT, YOU CAN TOO.  IN THE MARINES, WORKING TOGETHER MADE US STRONGER.  EVERYONE WAS IMPORTANT.  NO ONE WAS LEFT BEHIND.  WORKING TOGETHER, WE CAN MAKE THINGS HAPPEN.

I CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!  I'M NOT PART OF THE POLITICAL ESTABLISHMENT LIKE MY OPPONENT, RUBY REILLY.  WE ARE NEIGHBORS AND FRIENDS.  DAD TAUGHT ME TO BELIEVE AND TRUST IN FRIENDS...THE PEOPLE WHO STAND WITH YOU AND GET YOU THROUGH TOUGH TIMES.

HE TAUGHT ME A FEW OTHER THINGS. (PAUSE.)  FIRST, YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO YOUR GUT, NO MATTER HOW GOOD SOMETHING SOUNDS.  THE SECOND IS THAT YOU'RE BETTER OFF STICKING WITH WHAT AND WHO YOU KNOW.

I TRY TO LEARN FROM THE PAST, BUT PLAN FOR THE FUTURE BY FOCUSING ON THE PRESENT.

WHAT SEPARATES WINNERS FROM LOSERS IS HOW A PERSON REACTS.  WHEN SOMEBODY CHALLENGES YOU, FIGHT BACK.  WE CAN WIN TOGETHER. LET NO ONE FORGET US.

YOU ASK:  WHY AM I RUNNING?  I'M RUNNING BECAUSE I'M YOU.  WE OWE OURSELVES A BETTER LIFE.  WE GREW UP TOGETHER.  WE WALK THESE STREETS TOGETHER.  I RUN TO REPRESENT YOUR HUNGER AND YOUR HOPES.

I'LL FIGHT FOR YOU....FOR YOUR DREAMS.  I'LL MAKE GOVERNMENT LISTEN.  I'LL TAKE MY LIFE LESSONS AND EXPERIENCES TO THE STATE.  YOU WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN.

(CROWD CHEERS MORE LOUDLY.)


I BELIEVE IN YOU.  JOIN ME IN MY CAMPAIGN.  I ASK FOR YOUR SUPPORT.  BELIEVE IN ME.

YOU KNOW ME AND YOU CAN TRUST MY WORD!

THANK YOU.

                        AUDIENCE

(WILD APPLAUSE. SHOUTS OF MABUHAY, ADAMA!  VIVA, ADAMA! MABUHAY, ADAMA!   OTHERS CHANT:   MALAWAK!    BEN!  BEN! BEN!)

                         

Family (Continued)


Ami Leaves
(1997-2011)

I do not want this night to end.
But through the window, my awakened eyes
See the morning sky begin to lighten.
In the still dark, the acrid smell of death
crosses my bedroon.  Ami rasps.
Her breathe uneven.
I listen as she licks her lips
to quench her progressing disease.
Morning arrives as she slips slowly away.
I carry her to the car a final time.
We drive round Westcrest, Roxburg Bog
and Lincoln Park…her cherished walks.
I sip coffee from my border collie cup.
Recall our thirteen years.
A rescue dog.  A rescued heart.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Neighborhood (Continued)

Weight Room Rituals

Saturday morning at the Y,
we're pre-coffee champions.
We treadmill imagined marathons.
Cross-country elliptical escapes.
We buff muscles on free weights.
Lift isometric pulleys and plates.
More simple spirits stretch
and pretzel in yoga and pilates.
Workouts complete,
it's donut aerobics
at the Original Bakery.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Family (Continued)

Chickens

Growing up on 16th Avenue, mom raised chickens in our backyard.  Our house was  a block from Providence Hospital near the current entrance to their parking garage.  She acquired a small flock of chickens, roughly 15 to 20 hens and a rooster, that inhabited a broke-down trailer, dad purchased and she coverted into a coop. Her intent was to have fresh eggs and to provide the family with roast, fried or adobo chicken when the occasion demanded.

Louise, grew up in Ferndale, Washington, midway between Bellingham and Vancouver, B.C.   She was the third daughter of Herman and Josephine Smith.  They had one son, Tom and four daughters, Margaret (Toots), Mary, mom and Jean. 

Herman met and married Josephine Gegg in St. Louis in the late 1800s.  She worked in a rooming house in St. Louis.  She’d grown up in Weingarten, Missouri near St. Genevieve on the banks of the Mississippi.  Weingarten housed a large German community that immigrate around the 1830’s. They’d come from Baden Baden and Offenburg and upriver via New Orleans to settle and farm. 

St. Genevieve, the first French settlement on the west bank of the river, provide great farmland surrounding it.  A Catholic enclave, these German Catholics found comfort in the religion and familiarity of living adjacent to the French.  Leaving an area near Strassburg, they came attracted to the principles of  liberty and equality espoused by America.

At the turn of the century, Grandpa Herman convinced Josephine to move west.   The family landed first in Joseph, Oregon, a pimary terminus on the Oregon Trail.  They came by train.   They continued on  to Portland before he moved further north to labor in the Aberdeen shipyards.  Grandma Josephine and the growing family followed.  I’d heard he’d also worked in Alaska during this time, likely in the fishing industry as he pursued his American dream. 

Grandpa moved the family to Bellingham where he entered the construction industry.  He built homes and even worked on the historic Roder House.  Several small houses remain as testament to his craftsmanship. Unsatisfied with U.S policy and fearing a war, he splurged and purchased a 15 acre dairy farm in Ferndale around 1900 on the Mt. Vernon Road near Cherry Point.   He thought this would be a way to feed his growing family.  Once again the family moved  to pioneer a new land.

Grandp Herman wasn’t the easiest.   English and Irish descent, his reed-thin build matched his miniscule temper and tolerance.  He was the definitive “spare the rod, spoil the child guy”.  The farm needed many boulders removed. Without money or workmen, the girls absorbed this main role.  Needing to blow the rocks and level the land, he ordered mom to bring home a case of dynamite after school on the school-bus.  Obediently, she did under “or else” directions.  The daughters gathered the stone fragments and cleared the land for pasture, replacing the workhorses he lacked.

Grandma oversaw the house, the cooking, cleaning, chickens and ducks.  She also helped in the pasture and feeding the cows.  A large chicken coop was built along with a machine shop and a tool shed. 

On the farm,  mom quickly absorbed the lessons in the care, feeding and dispatching of chickens.  This knowledge carried to with her to Seattle, as they roamed free in our backyard until she wanted one for the pot.  She’d cuddle it before snapping or axing its neck then de-feathering it for our meal of fried chicken or sinygon. She had her favorites and, I believe, each was difficult to kill.  In her final years in Rainier Valley, a neighbor's pet rooster  climbed the fence to roam her backyard.   Mom sat in her wheelchair whispering and cuddling that rooster like a baby.  She feed it grain and talk with it as it it were a long lost child.  When she moved into her adult family apartment, she’d ask about “her rooster”
always hoping for one more touch.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Neighborhood (Continued)


Cart Wheels

Elbows straddle shopping cart.
I arch forward, threading aisle 
of my local QFC.
 Bent knees contort in half-prayer,
I carefully avoid on-coming shoppers.

From my corner eye,
I scan my paper scrap 
scrupulously laid in the corner tray...
my list of “must-halves”
and “forget-it-not
or thy kingdom come.”

I ponder.  Make mental notes.
What did I miss?
Where doooo…they stock
the jars or dried tomatoes?
What the hell are “whole walnuts?”
Are those “with or without a shell?
When is a walnut whole?
Damn!  Overlooked the half ‘n half, 
I backtrack to the Dairy Section.

At checkout,
The clerk asks:
Did you find everything?

“Of course.  No problem!”

Saturday, June 4, 2011

For a Friend

La Querencia

Find peace and hope in La Querencia,
place of your heart's desire,
far from your troubled everyday
and the gobbely-goop" of shallow words
with little meaning.

Find peace and hope
in sunrises, walks, tea with friends,
your bouquets and tranquil music
and unselfish warmth
that brought joy to many.

I'm sorry that you left so young.
I know you reside in your Querencia
where there is comfort
in your ring of hope and peace.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Neighborhood (Continued)

Sign Language

In Second Grade at Immaculate Conception, the good Sisters of Holy Names didn’t just enforce good writing and reading standards.  They guarded our morals with great watchfulness and certainty.   It after one recess that I learned how intent some were that no devilish behavior would creep into our lives.

A usual, the entire class of twenty-five, uniformly dressed  children were let out on the asphalt courts behind the three story building.   The girls were properly attired in blue skirts with blue sweaters.   Boys wore salt-n-pepper cords with a blue sweater over a white collared shirt.  

Recesses lasted about 20 minutes before we were called to line by a Sister Irma ringing a frantic bell.  We formed two lines…boys on one side and girls the other before climbing stairs to resume our catechism, arithmetic, reading or writing classes.  It was on on fatal day that I learned sign language.

Now, I tell you that Sister Irma was fearsome.  Tall and boney, she’d arch over you in her black and white habit.  With penetrating eyes, she’d scold about your mistakes, driving fear deep into your soul.

I climb the stairs returning to class when I whispered to Joe Caasi, my neighbor friend.,  “You see what those boys were doing?   I was referring to some eight graders who'd also been playing on the school grounds.

He should his head quietly.  “What?  Show me.”

I raised my right hand and motioned by lifting my middle finger toward the heavens. This. What's it mean?”

The Wrath of God descended quickly.   Sister Irma’s voice pierced air, “Everyone into the classroom.. Take your seats.  Bobby Flor, wait here.”  I cowered in the hallway as she approached.  Standing over me, she began to poke her long index finger through my chest while she chanted over and over a mantra, “Bobby Flor, I never want to see you doing that again.”