Sunday, May 11, 2014

Mother, Worthy

Mother, remembered
On this day especially
But worthy of it
Energy day

Mother, imitator
Of God
Many of her deeds
Marvelous, necessary
And inviable
To the fools
Who didn't even notice
But her sweat
Is not in vain
And her tears
Will not return void

Mother, honored
By the wise
Who know her worth

Mother, intercessor
On her knees for her family
Watchful for her adopted
Without ceasing in her duty

Mother, fearful
Of God
Instructed in His word
Instructor of her children
Foundation of Justice and Peace

Mother, inspired
The one who insists in the deed
Finds the solution
And is the first to say
Yes we can

Mother, called
Chosen
And present
Hand at the ready
Always willing
And always blessed

Mother, worthy
Every day
Of honor and love

Madre Digna

Madre Digna


Madre recordada

en este dia especialmente

pero digna de tal

todos los días


Madre imitadora

de Dios

varias de sus obras

son maravillosas, necesarias

e invisibles

a los fatuos

que ni se dieron cuenta

pero su sudor

no es en vano

y sus lagrimas

no toran atras vacias


Madre honrada

por los sabios

que entienden su valor


Madre intercedora

dando rodilla por su familia

y velando por sus adoptados

sin cesar en su deber


Madre temerosa

de Dios

instruida en Su palabra

instructora de sus hijos

fundacion de justicia y paz


Madre inspirada

la que insiste en la obra

encuentra la solución

y la primera en decir

si se puede


Madre llamada,

escogida,

y presente

con mano a la obra

siempre dispuesta

y siempre bendita


Madre digna

cada dia

de honra y amor

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Song Sings On (for Modesto Flores)

My modest friend
Was modest called
And modest seemed
But I've shook his hand
Seen his smile
And heard his fingers fret
With sisters' song
A sweet savoir unto the Lord.

His song plays on
Joining the grandest chorus
In all creation

Transformed
And newly named
My modest friend
Modest... No more

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Baptism

It's coming for me.
Without fail.

Make no mistake,
it has been waiting for me.

It starts on the surface of my skin
burns it's way inside.
Every inch of me
cooking.
Were it not my meat
it would smell as sweet.

As painful as the flame is
forgotten with the brake of the first bone.
Pressure builds
I fold
more than I ever thought I could.

I'm dripping now.
Blood, saliva, urine, Sprite
draining out of me.

I still struggle.
I still try.
I can't help it.

I am less myself.
Smaller, dryer, darker, weaker,
alive.

My forces retreat
further and further back
buying time for a relief
that is not to come.

My mind is all that's left now.
I know it won't last.
Motor skills, language, logic, grudges,
color, flavor, bent, straight, love, hate
burning away.

I am less myself.
Little more than grey matter.

I retreat to the last bastion.
The last thing to give in.
The last part to lose hope.
The strongest part of me.

My memory of you.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Nor

This shall be an exploration of the strange similarities between my aunt, Norma, and the fictional character of Nora from Pete's Dragon (1977).


Pete's Dragon is one of the earliest movies I ever remember watching; right up there with Cinderella, Bambi, Spaceballs, and Beverly Hills Cop. But Pete's Dragon stands out because there were so many similarities to my own life. Pete would talk to a Dragon no one else could see. I spoke to an imaginary audience about the things that happened to me through the day. Pete would often answer a question in the most honest and natural way that adults didn't like but that made kids laugh. I was the same way, sometimes I didn't even know what was so funny.


The most direct similarity was the almost parallel existence of Nora and my aunt Norma. Let's get the obvious out of the way. The difference between their names is a single M. They sound almost identical if yelled.


Nora is headstrong. She doesn't hesitate to do what she thinks is right. She will storm into a bar to rescue her father from another binge. She will stand up to a family of criminals she doesn't know to defend an orphan she just met. “You can't have him. You don't love him. Watch out, or I'll take you apart!” Norma is the same way, she does what she thinks is right and deals with everything else later on. I could site several personal examples, but they don't belong to me, so you'll have to take my word for it. Unless you know her, then you'll just agree.


Nora has her work and an elderly father to look after but she still opens her home and offers to adopt Pete so that he can have a permanent home. From my earliest memories I always understood my mother and father were apart (divorced). I stayed with my mother, but she always worked. She would leave me at my grandmother's house, where Norma lives. There were times I stayed there all week long, going from there to school and back. It was my aunt that secured me a saturday class to help with my spelling in english. It was my aunt's church that I attended as a child. I still visit to this day. And while I was not abandoned by my mother, I always felt that I had a second home with Norma.


Both Nora and Norma would frown on a lie, but they will tell few when needed. Nora told a host of lies to the schoolteacher about Pete's non-existing birth certificate and school records to allow Pete's admittance because “he needs an education, education, education.” I don't think Norma would go that far, but on more than one occasion when we didn't have proper change for a bus, she would ask me to duck behind her as she paid her way onto the bus, so that the driver wouldn't notice me.


Norma loves lighthouses. They act as a metaphor of Jesus. He is the light that guides us to safety. Her house is filled with model lighthouses, paintings of lighthouses, I would't be surprised if her desktop background was another lighthouse. Nora lives in a lighthouse. Need I say more? Nora LIVES in a lighthouse.


Both of them are single. Nora's husband-to-be was lost at sea. Nearing the end of the movie we see him sailing for home, braving the storm, looking desperately to the horizon for the light kept burning by the woman he loves. As far as Norma is concerned, I pray she doesn't loose faith, that she keep the fire burning. Maybe, someday, a worthy suitor will see the light, set sail, and brave the deep.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Take Me Out

I dig my feet into the ground
Somehow you make me wanna fly
Not doing much
Just standing here
Waiting
Smelling the hot dogs

Build it
They will come and they will clap
They will cheer and they will boo
They will come back tomorrow
Because they love you

True
You're very slow
But so often you show us
Something we've never seen before
You give birth to heroes
And the holiest of cows
Everyday records are broken
Legends are made
Stories are told
And dreams come true

After nine of not doing much
They'll pack up and leave
"You looked good out there kid
We'll get'em next year"

And when they're all gone
I'll walk across your emerald dress
Think about the flies
And slide in your sweet sand

Brown white and green
Ugliest diamond I've ever seen
Biggest one I've ever known
Only one I'll ever need

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Not Anymore 
and Never Again

To be or not to be?

That was the question.

But not anymore

and never again.



To be what I want,

what they want,

or what God wants?



To build my house from straw?

Or sticks?
Or Bricks?



But is that really a choice?

Would anyone choose a Gateway over a Dell?

A Pinto over a Viper?

Dirt over diamonds?



Oh the salesmen sow the seeds

sing such sweets to sell what sucks.

And many buy it.



What will I?

Seek the pleasures of this world?

Or reap the joys of the next?



Can the greatest thing in this world

compare to the leaste of God?



The choice is simple,

the task is not

impossible.



The valley is dark

danger is all around

but I am not alone

not anymore

and never again.



He is my refuge and steangth,

a very present help in trouble.

The only question is

Do I believe Him?

Do I trust Him?

Would I go into the deep

depending only on Him?

Will I choose His strength

over my comfort?

Can I act

without all the answers?



The only difference between

a man who has all the answers

and the man who trusts God

is that I could spend a lifetime trying to be one

or I could choose to be the other right now.



To be or not to be?

That was the question.

But not anymore 

and never again.