tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9086046886244445062024-03-13T03:08:05.673-07:00An Accidental AmericanAmerican-born Tish Vallés comes to live in America after decades overseas. The blog chronicles how an accidental American returns to her birthplace and gets to know the culture, the nation and its people.An Accidental Americanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12892157971712715456noreply@blogger.comBlogger113125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908604688624444506.post-31516907677744321022013-07-24T12:27:00.005-07:002023-05-15T22:50:36.054-07:00My Mother's Daughter<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YC8Wf_pSmhY/UfAnTtI3zjI/AAAAAAAAAkc/b6XtA1yE0qA/s1600/Mama-Me.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YC8Wf_pSmhY/UfAnTtI3zjI/AAAAAAAAAkc/b6XtA1yE0qA/s400/Mama-Me.jpg" width="283" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tish and Chona Vallés, 1971 Buffalo NY </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Inevitably the apple and the tree mirror one another if we've played our parts well.<br />
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For someone who has written for as long as I can remember, I have not been able to write a poem solely centered on my mother. The impossible task of deconstructing then reconstructing my mother became feasible one May evening when I confessed to my girl, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynne_Procope" target="_blank">Lynne Procope</a> this simple truth. To which she rightly replied "well isn't that the perfect place to start?" And of course it happened in Brooklyn, in a restaurant called Alice Arbor, at tea time like Alice - a tradition started when Mama first introduced me to Alice and her looking glass.<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Tea Time Like Alice</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Alice’s Arbor, Brooklyn July 2013 </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><i>“Alice laughed. 'There's no use trying,' she said. 'One can't believe impossible things.'</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><i></i></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><i>‘I daresay you haven't had much practice,' said the Queen. 'When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast!” </i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><i>― Lewis Carroll, “Through the Looking Glass”</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">My mother does not have </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">soft hands, does not own an </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">apron. Does not temper her words.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Not made like that, we </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">are made of micro minis</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">and straight As. Hard working </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">hands and words clear as crystal.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">My mother was not built to </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">obey, was not built to submit.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Questioning, always questioning.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Never feeding the answer. Never</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">coddling, always trusting.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">“Look it up.” or “What do <i>you</i> think </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">it means?” or “How do <i>you</i> want </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">to resolve this?” She does not </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">have a green thumb, my mother. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Not the light of our home, she was</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">the fire. The weapon-wielding</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">shorty-short wearing warrior</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">who raged through a bus at </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">rush hour to confront the driver</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">who had cut-off our car and hold him</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">accountable for his almost </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">murder of her family. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">My mother does not make</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">hot tsokolaté and pan de sal to</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">ease my pain. Not made</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">like that, we are made of tea</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">time like Alice and riddles without </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">answers. Rabbit holes leading to</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">rabbit holes. She did not hide things,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">did not make things pretty. Wanted me</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">to see. Wanted me to know. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Took me to my own limits </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">so that I and I alone would say</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">how far was far enough.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Not made of modest things,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">my mother was no brassieres</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">and the highest hemlines. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">She showed me that the female</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">form was a celebration of </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">all things alive and beautiful.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">She did not hide her skin, </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">never apologizing for who she </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">was. Brown woman in a weary</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">land the white man ravaged again</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">and again. She is no one else’s </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">possession but her own. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">My mother is not made of obedient </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">parts. Never acquiescing, not</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">to the nuns or the priests in the </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">schools she went to. Not to the </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">negotiators who would talk down</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">to the Filipino teachers union. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Not to my Spanish father who would</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">have us and our raised fists safely home </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">during the Martial Law protests. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">She was always subversive </span></div>
<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">and she did not even know it. How </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">could she, what with all that fight?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Not made of meek things, my mother </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">will not apologize for what </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">she knows, And oh she knows</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">things. Brilliant woman, teacher </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">of young minds and the teachers </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">who would follow in the service </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">of learning. “My kids.” She called them. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">My mother was everybody’s mother. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Everybody’s teacher. She was never </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">mine, but oh how I hold her, as she holds me. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">High as the moon, countless as the stars</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">at tea time, which is to say, always.</span></div>
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An Accidental Americanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12892157971712715456noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908604688624444506.post-822830739841085242013-07-14T06:46:00.001-07:002013-07-14T20:02:42.698-07:00To My Beautiful Brown Nephews: Keep Your Hoodies Up<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1wj9tdas2qY/UeKkimn6dTI/AAAAAAAAAi4/5_L0whCEaFE/s1600/nephews+love.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1wj9tdas2qY/UeKkimn6dTI/AAAAAAAAAi4/5_L0whCEaFE/s320/nephews+love.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Went to sleep heartbroken. Woke up heartbroken. And I cannot help but think of my nephews halfway across the globe, whom I miss everyday. Who ask me why I live so far away. Who ask me, <i>is New York City part of the United States? Is Brooklyn part of New York?</i><br />
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How can I defend America to these beautiful boys now? How can I defend my choice to live in America, as an American, to these beautiful boys whom I long to hug every day. Especially today.<br />
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My godson, Gael, has always been independent. From the time he was six years old, he would walk ahead of us not wanting to hold the hands of grown ups. Not wanting an adult companion when he'd go to public bathrooms. His mother has already had the conversation with him that went something like <i>Not everyone is a good person, Gael. Some people are not that nice. Some people will see you alone, want to pick you up and do bad things to you. Some people will kidnap you and take you away from your family.</i><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1ZhkHDeFfVM/UeKljvptQHI/AAAAAAAAAjE/dhHwYAbH8qM/s1600/Gael+hooide+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1ZhkHDeFfVM/UeKljvptQHI/AAAAAAAAAjE/dhHwYAbH8qM/s320/Gael+hooide+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
He is a beautiful boy who likes his fashions, he has asked me to bring back kicks with skulls, camo sneakers and hoodies for him whenever I've come home. And he is not the only nephew who is into hoodies, they're cool cats, they are all into the urban gear. How do I explain to them what happens to brown people like us in America, especially brown boys who have their hoodies up? Especially black boys who walk with hoodies up in the night?<br />
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America, how can I defend you now when a killer goes free and the blame is assigned to the young boy who cannot choose his skin but can choose to wear his hoodie up? When we Skype today and they see my tearful eyes, how do I begin to tell them this sad story? I will start by telling them I love them. I will start by telling them they are beautiful.<br />
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I will tell them to keep their hoodies up and stand as beautiful brown boys, proud.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RGKr2zk_SUM/UeKnuPGjPKI/AAAAAAAAAjU/gDB5CKMlhQc/s1600/trayvon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RGKr2zk_SUM/UeKnuPGjPKI/AAAAAAAAAjU/gDB5CKMlhQc/s320/trayvon.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I will tell them <a href="https://www.facebook.com/JforTrayvonMartin" target="_blank">Trayvon Martin</a> is loved. I will tell them he is beautiful. I will tell them Trayvon did nothing wrong. And I will tell them that America has wronged a young black man and broken all of our hearts. Trayvon Martin is now America's son, and we have wronged him the way we have wronged a litany of our beloved black and brown boys. <br />
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But I cannot lie to them. I cannot defend you to them, America. Not today. Not with this broken heart. Not with all of Travyon's innocent blood on your hands.<br />
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<br />An Accidental Americanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12892157971712715456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908604688624444506.post-45844500512969723482013-02-14T13:13:00.003-08:002013-02-14T13:16:30.305-08:00The Motherland in Rising in Dance!<a href="https://www.facebook.com/gabriela.alliance" target="_blank">Gabriela</a>, female advocacy group in the Philippines was early to join the Rising!<br />
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On VDay, with <a href="http://www.onebillionrising.org/pages/about-one-billion-rising" target="_blank">One Billion Rising</a> my heart goes back home to the song and dance through which we will rise and move and stop violence against girls and women.<br />
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One billion women dancing is a revolution against the one billion women violated, against on in three women on the planet raped or beaten in their lifetime.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/SLUTnFkKuZo" width="853"></iframe>An Accidental Americanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12892157971712715456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908604688624444506.post-57859478665919918152013-01-13T14:02:00.000-08:002013-01-13T14:08:36.179-08:00Bilingual Problems: A New SeriesSo, this happened yesterday...<br />
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center">
Barista says " Soy latte" & my pre-coffee brain hears "I am a latte," thinks he's making a bi-racial reference <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23BilingualProblems">#BilingualProblems</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Brooklyn">#Brooklyn</a><br />
— Tish Valles (@TishValles) <a data-datetime="2013-01-12T15:29:24+00:00" href="https://twitter.com/TishValles/status/290118289248636928">January 12, 2013</a></blockquote>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Sa7ReXkT4UA/UPMtfmRQ0tI/AAAAAAAAAeE/ktAIoGmMsBI/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-01-13+at+4.53.14+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Sa7ReXkT4UA/UPMtfmRQ0tI/AAAAAAAAAeE/ktAIoGmMsBI/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-01-13+at+4.53.14+PM.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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This has happened before - to me, to my friends. Growing up in a country that was conquered by Spain, then <i>liberated </i>by America, Filipinos are most likely bilingual and certainly multi-racial. If you come from a part of the country that speaks a dialect like I do, then BAM you're trilingual.<br />
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Every single time something like this happens, I am amused. So I thought to share these snippets so you can laugh with me or laugh at me. I'm a riot, I know. And no, I am not referring to the mountain in the Philippines because that would be <i>Arayat.</i><br />
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Waka-waka-waka.<br />
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<script async="async" charset="</p><p><br></p><p class=" separator="separator" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a imageanchor="1" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Sa7ReXkT4UA/UPMtfmRQ0tI/AAAAAAAAAeE/ktAIoGmMsBI/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-01-13+at+4.53.14+PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; "><img style="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Sa7ReXkT4UA/UPMtfmRQ0tI/AAAAAAAAAeE/ktAIoGmMsBI/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-01-13+at+4.53.14+PM.png" border="0" width="320" height="209"></a></p>
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T</script>An Accidental Americanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12892157971712715456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908604688624444506.post-49649989629990932992013-01-07T15:19:00.000-08:002013-01-07T15:19:23.209-08:00Cowboy or Koboy?The Philippines is the lone Americanized country in Southeast Asia. America brought us democracy, our educational system, Coca Cola, dreams of white Christmas, Spam, the English language. Certain American concepts also found their way into the culture and language. <i>Colgate</i> is the generic word for toothpaste. <i>Kodakan</i> was the verb for taking pictures. <i>Jeepney</i> is a form of public transportation born from refurbished US army Jeeps.<br />
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<i>Koboy </i>is an interesting construct that has been repurposed within the Philippine culture. Borrowed from the idea of the cowboy, <i>Koboy</i> takes the rugged swagger and unrefined essence and pushes it further to the edge. At least that's how I understood it. The recent conversations about gun control and gun rights have left this accidental American at a loss for words.<br />
<script async="async" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
600 teachers have applied for free firearms training: <a href="http://t.co/Ql0KUUle" title="http://ow.ly/gByzP">ow.ly/gByzP</a><br />
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) <a data-datetime="2013-01-07T19:01:41+00:00" href="https://twitter.com/MotherJones/status/288359770530918400">January 7, 2013</a></blockquote>
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I cannot imagine any scenario wherein the Filipino cowboys or <i>koboys </i>would ever put guns in children's classrooms. It seems the radical right are reclaiming <i>koboy</i> and redrawing the line. Now the new edge envisions a world where children are in the hands of armed grown ups.<br />
<br />
You can keep this one, Joe. We won't be infusing this thinking into the emerging Filipino way.An Accidental Americanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12892157971712715456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908604688624444506.post-73615324036258027522012-12-31T14:29:00.000-08:002012-12-31T14:30:36.861-08:00When Choosing Among Little Black Dresses <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VLLcbWGRzKc/UOIIn2KW7MI/AAAAAAAAAdc/TBjd3ehP-cI/s1600/tish+mini.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VLLcbWGRzKc/UOIIn2KW7MI/AAAAAAAAAdc/TBjd3ehP-cI/s320/tish+mini.jpg" width="187" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Some of my concerns run deeper than others. For instance, right now I am contemplating which of three black dresses to where. It's a consideration of body-consciousness, sparkle or bare shoulders. You see, I'm getting ready to ring in the new year and my girls and I have decided to glam it up this round.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In truth, such musings reflect deeper explorations in feminism, liberation and freedom of expression. I have had the fortune (and along with it the responsibility) of always being able to choose for myself. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">On the brink of a new year in which this millennium becomes a teen-ager, many other women are living in societies which continue to suppress their voice and impede their rights. There still are women who can't decide what to wear, which school to go to, which bus to take. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Well aware of this, my girls and don't take any of these freedoms for granted. We give <a href="http://www.w4.org/en/voices/all" target="_blank">voice</a> and <a href="http://www.louderarts.com/index.php/about-louderarts" target="_blank">fight</a> and <a href="http://www.w4.org/" target="_blank">platform</a> to the many women who don't have the good fortune we have.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We wear our stilettos with pride, we choose our black dresses with mindfulness and we move forward into 2013 we welcome the sunrise of better days for women everywhere. Happy New Year, you look gorgeous!</span><br />
<br />An Accidental Americanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12892157971712715456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908604688624444506.post-75127962118861865712012-11-19T12:34:00.000-08:002012-11-19T12:34:27.610-08:00Fortune Cookie Wisdom du Jour<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PfOyuiFHtUc/UKqXx9v0eFI/AAAAAAAAAdA/H6u5LmlgePQ/s1600/IMG_0390.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PfOyuiFHtUc/UKqXx9v0eFI/AAAAAAAAAdA/H6u5LmlgePQ/s640/IMG_0390.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />An Accidental Americanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12892157971712715456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908604688624444506.post-74538627177017743042012-11-16T09:57:00.002-08:002012-11-18T10:16:31.494-08:00America's Broken HeartLove makes room. When tested, love reveals true character.<br />
<br />
My love affair with America is complicated and rewarding. It lives deep within me, the visceral fiery part where fist and buck and growl live. It lives on my bosom, where it is soft and warm and dizzy. It sits in my hands that work and hold and move.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
Because a big enough part of America feels heart-broken these days, the heart of America is breaking. Because so many of us love America, we all feel this heartbreak in varying ways. And because this is OUR beloved America, we must make room. We must calm the buck and relax the fist. We must reach out and open up. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We love America, and as America's heart is breaking the only way forward is for us to make room for different views so we can let America do what it has always done. America makes room.<br />
<br />
America loves us, so she makes room for all of us.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HCDRQFH75B8/UKZ46fH8bJI/AAAAAAAAAcs/J-zsXcCvUi8/s1600/558581_10151148921281749_150993597_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HCDRQFH75B8/UKZ46fH8bJI/AAAAAAAAAcs/J-zsXcCvUi8/s400/558581_10151148921281749_150993597_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151249672501749&set=pb.6815841748.-2207520000.1353087245&type=3&theater</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
</div>
An Accidental Americanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12892157971712715456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908604688624444506.post-79616961121185180822012-10-09T08:56:00.000-07:002012-10-09T08:56:01.400-07:00The Virtuous Cycle<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fNRiE9WMAek/UHRIbXZjF1I/AAAAAAAAAcc/oseiBDDdGM0/s1600/canaps.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fNRiE9WMAek/UHRIbXZjF1I/AAAAAAAAAcc/oseiBDDdGM0/s200/canaps.jpg" width="113" /></a>Last week, I started an <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/" target="_blank">Indiegogo</a> fund-raiser for a dear friend who is facing a serious disease, and just a week later we are 55% on our way to our target! I continue to be amazed at the generosity of people. I continue to marvel at how, when you start a ripple waves immediately come.<br />
<br />
We all have the capacity to start a virtuous cycle, to question what is wrong and move towards what is fair and just.<br />
<br />
It is truly amazing what we can do together.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/246254?c=home&a=142232An Accidental Americanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12892157971712715456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908604688624444506.post-25240134025732116542012-09-25T12:43:00.000-07:002012-09-25T12:43:14.270-07:00New Season, New Digs
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nqRyp_xmZu8/UGIGT828iZI/AAAAAAAAAcM/mKJHLBCSFU0/s1600/550880_10151244249174993_324328403_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nqRyp_xmZu8/UGIGT828iZI/AAAAAAAAAcM/mKJHLBCSFU0/s320/550880_10151244249174993_324328403_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The awesome window in the new digs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #676767; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"> A couple of weeks ago, I was walking around Brooklyn with my
poetry family and we were counting the number of times we had moved in our
lives. </span><span style="color: #5f5f4f; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: #676767; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">I
counted 12 in the past 12 years (including 4 1/2 countries). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #676767; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #676767; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">As New York finds herself in the early days of her
same-time-next-year romance with Autumn, I find myself in the early days of a
new romance with an space that I could really love. And this space, I think it
knows the kind of loving I need. It's bright and airy, with giant windows of
blue sky and moon. Buzzing in the daytime and smooth at night, this space gets
it so right.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #676767; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #676767; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">I occupy myself and my spaces with newfound confidence as my
focus and energy are clearer and fuller than ever before. I am strong in my
body, in my heart and in my mind. I am blossoming with creativity and purpose. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #676767; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #676767; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Could I be entering Act 3 in the story of
Tish? Oh hell, yeah!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->An Accidental Americanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12892157971712715456noreply@blogger.com0185 Erasmus St, Brooklyn, NY 11226, USA40.65 -73.9539.8715045 -75.213427500000009 41.4284955 -72.6865725tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908604688624444506.post-50276101900361686892012-08-23T11:30:00.000-07:002012-08-23T11:30:00.010-07:00War Poem (August 23rd Revision)<br />
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
<em>Sadly this is a poem that continues to unravel, and those of us with voice and rage and open hearts must keep the story front and center. Stronger and stronger, our voices togeher.</em></div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
There’s a war going on just underneath my skin</div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
a quiet, harrowing war of the unspeakable</div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
a war unsought. Never lost, never won.</div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
A mole under my left eye, eternal tear</div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
weeping for a flock of American soldiers</div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
who killed all the husbands but spared my skin.</div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
The space between my legs burns of</div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
blunt blades, pointed fingers, savage laws of </div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
men in loin cloths, sacred robes and tailored suits. </div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
Under my knee, a gash from the weary fall of grandmothers</div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
whose solider husbands marched to their deaths leaving</div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
widows and orphans to see their liberation from the Japanese</div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
Dynasties of fabric seeking the perfect lotus</div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
feet bend my arches into breaking, making</div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
each step excruciating.</div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
On my left cheek, a disapproving brother’s signature</div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
marked in acid, proud announcement to the world</div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
little sister is a dirty girl not worthy of dowry.</div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
Beneath my breasts, lungs damaged in the fall</div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
down the well in the woods when fathers</div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
wanted only Chinese baby boys.</div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
A thousand bastard mongrel babies fathered by friars</div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
cysts in my left ovary now severed by a doctor</div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
marking forever the female parts of my childless body.</div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
The cries trapped in the voiceless throats </div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
Of my kin forced into sex slavery in Syria</div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
form a lump on my forearm, my wartime purple heart.</div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
My left pinky finger bends at at point </div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
where the blade barely missed the lawbreaking </div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
painted nails offending Taliban sensibility.</div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
In the dead of night, even today you still hear, “Magdalene, </div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
<em>Asking for It</em>, Virgin, <em>Puta</em>, Illegitimate Rape Victim,</div>
<div style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Slut." There, just there. There's a war going on.</span></div>
<br />
An Accidental Americanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12892157971712715456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908604688624444506.post-58345777810908638802012-07-23T12:43:00.001-07:002012-07-23T13:17:33.950-07:00How Do You Show Up, and Why?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rifuBgVoFHc/UA1eqBa0PjI/AAAAAAAAAbU/zep-zco5WvU/s1600/Mama-Me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rifuBgVoFHc/UA1eqBa0PjI/AAAAAAAAAbU/zep-zco5WvU/s200/Mama-Me.jpg" width="141" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mama and her first born. <br />
(that would be me)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Being a first born has trained me to to be reliable, people know they can count on me to show up. From as early as I can remember, my parents instilled in me a sense of responsibility which has played a foundational role in the values that calibrate my journey.<br />
<br />
I know this is not unique to first borns. We all show up to work, to meetings, to dates, to appointments, to commitments. This starts fairly early in life. We show up to breakfast, then we show up to school and if you're raised following any kind of religious practice you show up to services. There is a lot of showing up ingrained in our systems that we hardly even think about anymore. When my family calls on me, I show up to the best of my ability. It's something I am compelled to do, it comes from a deeply rooted sense of purpose and connectedness.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0t_n8QuriTo/UA1exziWE2I/AAAAAAAAAbc/QuLJc6CVPXs/s1600/tish+flower+girl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0t_n8QuriTo/UA1exziWE2I/AAAAAAAAAbc/QuLJc6CVPXs/s200/tish+flower+girl.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me again, showing up as flower girl.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I have a distinct memory of how I learned to show up in my early days as a student. I am told that I started reading fairly early, so my parents decided that I was ready for pre-school at the age of 3. What they didn't count on was my emotional total unpreparedness. Apparently, mornings began as a <strike>wrestling match</strike> struggle involving tantrums and tears. This is now what I remember. What I remember is that my teacher made me the weather girl and it was my job to inform the class whether it was sunny, cloudy, rainy or stormy. Because of this, not only did I show up to my weather-girl duties, I also showed up and thoroughly enjoyed school.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KCbNOKH-tuc/UA1kPOZOMiI/AAAAAAAAAbw/SOj0RpN-2SI/s1600/Tish+V+WOrkshop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KCbNOKH-tuc/UA1kPOZOMiI/AAAAAAAAAbw/SOj0RpN-2SI/s200/Tish+V+WOrkshop.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stepping into the spotlight,<br />
showing up for me.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Over time, my reasons for showing up have been a combination of having to do things out of a more external sense of duty and a doing things out of a deeper sense of purpose. The different roles we play in life, the many callings we heed - they compel us in different ways. And as much as we show up for our job, our people, our promises - this is as much as we should show up for ourselves. What fights, causes and meanings do we have most heart for? What themes and topics get our fire going?<br />
<br />
So I ask you what I often find myself asking myself: Are you showing up for <i>you?</i> Are you stepping into your own spotlight and heeding the calls that matter most to <i>you?</i> And every time I find reasons not to, I remind myself of what it was like to grow up in the dictatorial 80's of the Philippines, surrounded by injustices beyond imagining. And I sound out the words spoken by a subversive nun of the 80's indie film, Sister Stella L. in all the languages of my heart:<i> Kung hindi tayo ang kikilos, sino ang kikilos? Kung hindi ngayon, kailan pa? If not us, then who will move? If not now, when?</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
My friends, the stage is set. The audience is waiting. And your heart, it burns bright and beats strong. And your heart is beautiful. And every time you show up for you, you are beautiful.<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="720" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Nm7V559pVVE" width="960"></iframe>An Accidental Americanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12892157971712715456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908604688624444506.post-91561829331124196592012-05-27T20:16:00.003-07:002012-05-27T20:16:49.296-07:00The Sun Rises at 40I think I get it now. I think I finally get what they mean when they say that life begins at 40. As a newbie forty-something, I have found myself revisiting life's bigger questions and callings. Like a planet on its course, I have come to the question about my purpose, about what lights up my heart and fills me with joy. Having turned 40 a year and a half ago, I find myself face-to-face with the very questions that confronted me half of my lifetime ago.<br />
<br />
And while I do not think that life <i>actually</i> begins at forty, I have come to see my turning forty as the sunrise in my life. Which is to say, I am going to a new vision of life for myself. The sunlight is only just beginning to come through, so I am seeing an urgency of heart more than a clear picture. I am remembering the things that matter most to me. I am remembering the kind of work that revs me up. And in this remembering, the picture of where I come from blurs with the picture of where I am going.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />An Accidental Americanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12892157971712715456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908604688624444506.post-11941628135293808822012-04-16T10:45:00.001-07:002012-04-16T10:45:40.334-07:00Poem 8/30: Your Are Not Five or Fifteen<br />
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
To be a dog, or a grown up. Or to be</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
a penguin. Aiden, who is now five,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">has this power. To dive in to </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">an imagining so real, he becomes</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the thing. He is angry at his mother</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">when he is forced to wear underpants.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Penguins don't wear underpants, Mama.</i></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>I told you, I am a penguin today.</i></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">He is your nephew, your heart, your moon.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And you are not five or fifteen. You are</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">not even twenty five, not by miles.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Now, you must dive in. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">To be forty one.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">To be a woman, brown woman in</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">this land uncertain about its new skin.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Brown woman in this world </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the old man is unprepared to see.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">What is the power that you hold </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">in this new brown world?</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Is it your sex? Is it your skin? </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Imagine a Sunday at its best. All</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">sunshine and blossoms. Imagine</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">all voices raised, all sights on high. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Now imagine the pulsing. Your heart. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Your heart.</span></div>An Accidental Americanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12892157971712715456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908604688624444506.post-88087600279791246762012-04-16T10:37:00.001-07:002012-04-16T10:37:28.677-07:007/30: Mama Warned You About Days Like This<br />
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
You have grown weary of the words,</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
always the words. So many words, always<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">talking, always talking. Your mama warned</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">you about days like this, days when your </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">quick with and piercing words would crush.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Only, she never told you they would crush</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">your own self. Your own heart. Your weary,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">wordy heart. You have said enough. Too much.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">You were weak. Over here, they call it </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">vulnerable. Your heart calls it weak, your</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">heart knows you went too far. You</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">showed them where they can hurt you,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">you let them in. You <i>told</i> them. Silly</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">girl, you said <i>here, right here, come </i></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>and touch me right here. </i> And now </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">there is no phone, the internet is down, </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">they are are nowhere to be found and </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">all you have left is a sorry ditch </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">you cannot talk your way out of.</span></div>An Accidental Americanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12892157971712715456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908604688624444506.post-71728708217028186482012-04-09T07:44:00.002-07:002012-04-09T07:44:27.960-07:00April 6 Poem: How Things Work (6/30)<br />
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
My father liked to point out</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
the mechanics of things.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
On planes, we would always sit <span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">near the wings so we could watch</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">as the pilot maneuvered the</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">flaps, opening wide to create </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">resistance the shutting them tight</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">for a smooth glide. In airports as</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">planes landed, we looked out</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">for the landing gear - those wheels</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the pilot released just as the plane </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">touched down. When I was </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">learning how to drive, he showed</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">me the car engine, made me see</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">how it moved as he hit the gas or </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">shifted gears. He made me </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">change a tire, taught</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">me how to check the oil. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The heart is an engine and a man is </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">an engine and a father is an </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">engine. My father showed me </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the mechanics of love. Most nights</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">till I was twelve, he would tuck</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">me and my sister in bed,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">brush our hair out of our eyes,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">kiss us on our foreheads.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I learned what tenderness </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">looked like on the face of man</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">when my father kissed me</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">goodnight. And later, much </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">later, my father taught me</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">forgiveness. When I broke his</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">heart, with my angst and my </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">words. When he broke my</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">heart with his struggles</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and failings. The heart,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the eyes, the tender eyes,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the forehead kisses. My father</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">taught me the mechanics of</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">love. He took me under the hood</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">so I would know. So I could see.</span></div>An Accidental Americanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12892157971712715456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908604688624444506.post-29143708421553617592012-04-09T07:19:00.003-07:002012-04-09T07:21:02.534-07:00April 5 Poem: When I Am French (5/30)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Sometimes I imagine I am French.</span><br />
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
I picture myself in an a pied-a-tere<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">overlooking le jardin, sipping cafe au lait.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">My voice lowers an octave, suddenly</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">sophisticated, spoken from luscious lips</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">that pucker and pout. I have a mole</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">on my face, a beautiful imperfection</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">somewhere close to my left eye. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">My brows, always perfect, arch with</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">more conviction and my deep brown</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">eyes will be equal parts sadness and sass.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I am always gliding, when I am French </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I gain grace and gait. Accordion </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">music trails wherever I go.</span></div>An Accidental Americanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12892157971712715456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908604688624444506.post-16174856258045192982012-04-04T20:16:00.000-07:002012-04-09T07:21:13.919-07:00April 4 Poem: The Dance of the Left-Right Sway (4/30)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">And each city is a flash,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">each citizen a speck</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">on this train ride between</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">townships. Strangers sharing</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">this car, this air, this free wifi,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">this conductor, this suspension</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">between to and from. Behind,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">conversations of apparent</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">importance, spoken on a</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">Blackberry with urgency.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">"Family emergency... No,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">there will be no way to reach</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">me at the hospital... Yes,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">I promise to be on email</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">as much as I can..." then</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">a long silence, not even a sigh.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">Across me, a watermelon</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">coat outshone by a smile,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">it must be love, a new love</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">she cannot contain.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">She stares out the window,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">as if to make a wish and</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">then, she is suddenly sad..</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">Beside me, a logbook,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">an iPad, a calendar and</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">a calculator. It is tax season</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">in the East Coast and he</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">is both King and drone,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">he leaves his armaments</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">only once and returns with</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">his third coffee.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">And the speed of the</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">journey is swaddled in</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">the softest sunlight,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">camouflaged by the</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">left-right sway. And the man</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">with the clicker is always</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">the boss. And the suit</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">who steps out to take</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">a call means business,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">so does the pearl-wearing</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">hair flipper he is here with.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">The conservative in the</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">seat next to me reads about</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">the missionary position, and</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">the hipster across from him</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">is bored. And the argyle</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">sweater in the middle is</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">pensive and the watermelon</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">coat is smiling again.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">And each city is still</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">a flash, and each citizen</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">is less of a speck in the</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">sway and the rock from</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">New York to Boston today.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"> </span>An Accidental Americanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12892157971712715456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908604688624444506.post-67886373030930431972012-04-04T20:14:00.000-07:002012-04-09T07:21:23.882-07:00April 3 Poem: When the Body is Angry (3/30)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">In my case, it is the belly.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">Always. As if my every hope</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">and fear is held there. As if</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">my every nerve winds around</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">there. It will not be ignored,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">cannot be ignored. But sometimes</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">it is the shoulder. As if all that</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">I bear leans there. As if all my</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">struggles wrestle there.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">In my case, it is also the fist,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">the lashing tongue, the</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">uncontrollable stomp.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">Once it was deeper inside, the</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">anger. In this case, it was</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">vindictive. It was plotting.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">It was punishing. It required</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">surgeons and treatments,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">It was scarring, irreversible.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">When the body is angry, you listen.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">You must listen. Listen</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">for the tiny creaks, listen</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">for the whispered moans, listen</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">for the happy humming, listen</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">for the fracture, listen</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">for the break, listen</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">for the fissure, listen</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">for the rebellion. Listen</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">when the clots form. Listen</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">when the cells conspire. Listen.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">When the body is angry, listen.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">You must listen.</span>An Accidental Americanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12892157971712715456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908604688624444506.post-52893981191292816212012-04-03T19:33:00.002-07:002012-04-09T07:21:32.626-07:00April 2 Poem: There Never Was Window (2/30)<br />
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
Sweep all the rooms once</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
twice, thrice to be sure.<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Take out the trash, </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">make sure every inch </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">is spotless. Shut off </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">every light, turn the key.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Never look back.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Your truths and your lies</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">are in boxes and bags again.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">How many boxes and bags</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">have carried you from way to</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">way, from bed to bed, from </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">movement to movement.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Your face is a stone, </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">and your feet are the ocean. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">There is no sand, there are no</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">cards, there is no house. There is</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">no more house. There never was </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">a house. A door. A window. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">You were never a Sequoia.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">You could never work with straw.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The wind always came, then the rain.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Always the rain.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Always the rain.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Always the rain.</span></div>An Accidental Americanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12892157971712715456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908604688624444506.post-25114465409781999422012-04-01T08:55:00.000-07:002012-04-09T07:21:42.056-07:00April 1 Poem: Manang Adang (1/30)<br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
Illuminada was always old,</div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
her soft raisin hands</div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
running through my hair</div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
every morning before school,</div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
gingerly and forcefully holding</div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
together my innocence</div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
and endless questions</div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
in a perfect braid</div>
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so taught, my head</div>
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would ache till recess.</div>
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<br /></div>
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We called her "Manang Adang,"</div>
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this woman who took care of me</div>
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and my sister, Veronica. She made</div>
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our meals, did our hair, mended</div>
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our clothes, poured milk</div>
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into glasses in the mornings</div>
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and evenings. She was</div>
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our first lesson that you can</div>
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grow your love for another,</div>
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so big she becomes family.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Later, she was</div>
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also our first lesson in</div>
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betrayal and heartbreak.</div>
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First the golden spoons</div>
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my grandfather squirreled</div>
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through the war, concealed</div>
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from the Japanese and</div>
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corralled against</div>
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the bombs. Then, it</div>
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was a gold bracelet my</div>
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great grandmother</div>
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had made especially</div>
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for the arrival of her first</div>
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great grand daughter.</div>
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There, all there hiding</div>
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among her things,</div>
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the wrinkled handkerchief,</div>
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the betel nut, the rosary</div>
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she prayed every single day.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<em>* "Manang" is a Filipino term of endermeant and respect for someone older, an older sister or someone you feel sisterly respect for.</em></div>An Accidental Americanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12892157971712715456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908604688624444506.post-80169339299722175842012-04-01T08:54:00.000-07:002012-04-01T08:54:14.819-07:00April Means Poems Poems Poems!And here we go again, April is National Poetry Month and poets everywhere will be writing thirty poems in thirty days. Watch this space and follow me on this journey!An Accidental Americanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12892157971712715456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908604688624444506.post-15732727072665584872012-03-14T08:40:00.000-07:002012-03-14T17:29:54.027-07:00with freedom comes praise, with praise comes prayer (a poem in progress)<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">you speak your holy words out loud on our</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">subway and stare your judgement at me. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">if i told you which gods i prayed to</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">or why, would you respect me any</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">more or any less? would my </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">words roll differently</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">into your ears? if i </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">praised bathala</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">would you</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">dismiss </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">me?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">would you</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">hiss at the power</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">of my brown god? would</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">you scoff at my sungodblessed</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">golden brown soul? if i blessed you</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">with my namaste would your heart open</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">to the abundance? would the core of you unfold?</span></div>An Accidental Americanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12892157971712715456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908604688624444506.post-60474965288013467172012-03-13T13:03:00.000-07:002012-03-13T13:03:32.373-07:00Synchronize: The Happiness Philiosophy<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6V_JDRVh7ho/T1-nrnXSOfI/AAAAAAAAAa0/K9s_NUtNhC4/s1600/dv+with+rone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6V_JDRVh7ho/T1-nrnXSOfI/AAAAAAAAAa0/K9s_NUtNhC4/s320/dv+with+rone.jpg" width="249" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ditas Vallés, my gorgeous Nana with my sister<br />and mom-blogger Rone of <br />www.motheringearthlings.blogspot.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Synchronize. </div>
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This is a concept my Nana introduced us to. In her specific instance, she used the term in the context of celebrating on pace with another, with a round of beverages usually of the Scotch nature. </div>
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As I think about what happiness means to me, I realize that I am happiest when my Sense of Purpose, Passions and Pursuits are in synch. In contrast, I am least happy when I feel out of synch. And for the most part, being out of synch means that whatever I am pursuing is at odds with my passions and deep sense of purpose.</div>
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<br /></div>
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So as simple as this sounds, it is equally powerful: Synchronize your sense of Purpose, Passions and Pursuits and you stay happy. And of course things this simple and powerful are often easier said than done. But if you follow along over the next few weeks, we'll unpack this discussion and plan our way to happy trails.</div>An Accidental Americanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12892157971712715456noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908604688624444506.post-63118603898927248202012-02-29T07:42:00.001-08:002012-02-29T07:44:05.488-08:00Let's Jump!It's a leap year and today is the 29th of February.<br />
<br />
I'm ready to jump, are you? Are you ready to let go of all things holding you back? Are you ready to focus forward, always forward? Can you feel that buzzing at your feet, that tingling of your spine? Even your cells know it.<br />
<br />
You're ready. So take my hand, let's do this.<br />
<br />
Let's jump.<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/SIeP9aQqb0A" width="560"></iframe>An Accidental Americanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12892157971712715456noreply@blogger.com0