Curtains of Light

In 1971, my sister, Carmel and I published a book of poems (by me) and illustrations by her. We were young and vibrant and full of revolutionary energy. I was 25 and my sister a recent transfer from George Washington U was a student at CCAC. We lived on the very street that I now reside upon, with two dogs, (of course) and spent our first Thanksgiving together cooking in an airy kitchen with a screen door and a small stove. I am often reminded of that time as I walk the neighborhood, past the flat we shared, and expect as most of us often do (when caught in one of those timeless vortexes), to hear strains of Joanie Mitchell or the Incredible String Band floating through the air, and see one or two residents smoking on the front porch. Ah, but, tempus fugit. Here are two very youthful pieces from 'Curtains of Light.'

I borrow your name,
Erlinda Cosay,
the ad in the magazine says:
you are five years old,
fatherless,
an Apache Indian,
and you can be bought for $15.00
in silver pieces.
I look at your face,
Erlinda Cosay,
and see nothing.
It is empty.
It is desolate,
life stolen from you.
Do you want to borrow some
American land?
************
Sometimes I wonder
in what city,
in what room,
my shadow lingers.
Does it sit upon
some alcove
gathering aging thoughts
or is it cast
along some pavement
lost in curtains of light.

Beaks Skyward

Let's talk serious Turkey...

1. BP for it's agonizing botched attempts at capping the oil spill off the Louisiana Gulf Coast.

2. Toyota. Denial. Denial. PR disaster...the corporation's lead, as in slow, foot response to the acceleration pedal debacle.

3. The Burmese Military Junta who placed Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, under house arrest in Yangon for 15 of the past 20 years after the NLD (National League for Democracy) won the election in 1990 which would have made Aung San Suu Kyi, Prime Minister of Burma... afraid that hmm, a woman might kick their collective asses, the Junta tried to control and cap Kyi's popularity and movements through house arrest. You tube her recent release.

4. The State of Arizona and it's anti-immigration Law.

5. Kim Jong-il...alleged torpedoing of a South Korean naval ship; the calculated, methodical, starvation of an entire population.

Storm clouds brewing, turkeys. Open beaks wide.

The Good, The Shellacked, and the Ugly

1. The Good: The SF Gate banners read: "Orange Crush." Ok. But, hey, that slogan is alive and well in Denver. It's San Francisco. Where weirdness resides. How about the autumn of love fest? Today, fans in droves lined the streets of the city to celebrate the World Series coming home for the first time in the Giants west coast franchise history. The young pitcher's Bumgarner and Cain have their caps enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Lincecum, the flower power gunslinger, has had 2 jersey's retired to Cooperstown. On a magical fall day that brought out the best in humanity, San Francisco grooved like it was well, circa 1967. Free love and adulation poured out in waves of cheering, roaring fans. Brian Wilson, the mohawk, bearded all world closer, got down from his cable car and walked amongst the masses. Dave Righetti, the pitching coach, choked up and near tears said the win was for everyone in SF, especially the residents of the San Bruno fire. And the Oakland Athletics, the baseball team across the Bay took out a full page ad in the SF Chronicle congratulating the Giants. It doesn't get any better than this.

2. The shellacked: Manning up and not dodging the press, El Presidente used that term to describe the Republican victories across the country last night. Humbled and somber, team Obama is regrouping and sifting through Plan B which will cover the next 2 years. Is the sky falling? Not exactly. But as President Obama said, "I feel bad for the Democrats who supported my agendas and went down to defeat over them."

3. On the horizon and with the moon in some sort of post-Halloween retro melt-down, these e'phant stars are rising: Marco Rubio, Susana Martinez and Scott Walker.

4. The Ugly: Hmmmm. 60 new e'phant seats in the House or Randy Moss. Randy Moss. After shouting profanities at a caterer who was bringing in lunch to the Vikings facility, saying the food was unfit even for his dog, and for publicly ranting how much he missed his ex team the Patriots, and his ex Coach Belichick, Moss was shown the front door by the Vikings who took their magic marker and made an indelible X out of him.