Like a tooth peeking through gums,
stone walls work their way
through the hard-backed earth,
revealing an outline,
posing a mystery:
what secrets lie buried in this ground?
22 May 2011
University of the West Indies
Kingston, Jamaica
Outline
Filed under Poem
The big blue truck
Sweat plasters his bright red shirt to his back,
sweat rolls out from under his doo-rag, stinging his eyes.
Heat rises from the macadam
to greet the sun’s hot rays.
Along the roadside he trudges,
keeping pace with the big blue truck.
The sickly smell of decomposition
rises from a pile of plastic bags –
refuse, scraps, detritus of consumption –
that blocks his path.
He stops, stoops,
futilely tries to shoo some flies,
then slowly, deliberately
one
by
one
picks up each bag
and throws it into the truck bed.
While the final bag is in his hand,
gears engage,
the truck slips slowly away.
As that last bag hangs suspended in the air,
he shifts his shoulders,
kicks the dirt,
and starts toward the next pile,
following the big, blue truck.
25 May 2011
Norman Manley International Airport
Kingston, Jamaica
Filed under Poem
The Fighter
I am not much for boxing.
I don’t turn off boxing when it comes on during the Olympics; I don’t pay close attention, either.
I am certain I have never watched a professional match from beginning to end. I am fairly certain I have not watched enough individual rounds combined to constitute a whole fight – unless that fight was a first-round knockout.
But on today’s return plane from Geneva, I choose to watch The Fighter. I had heard much about the film. And what I heard was good. And I have always liked Christian Bale. So when it appeared as one of the choices, I decided to give it a go.
I am glad I did. It did not disappoint. It did not convert, I won’t be buying the DVD (a similar experience took place years ago: I watched The Boxer because it featured Daniel-Day Lewis), but it definitely did not disappoint. And is worthy of the praise and nominations it received.
Boxing may be the presence, but the film is about family, loyalty, courage, and redemption. And you can’t go too far wrong with those themes when you have a good story and strong cast. The Fighter does.
And it has Christian Bale. And Christian Bale can act. The others in the cast also perform quite well. Melissa Leo is amazing. Mark Wahlberg gets top billing and delivers.
But this is Bales’ movie. And Christian Bale can act.
The boxing is a bit violent – the language a tad rough (but hey, Christian Bale’s character was a crack addict) – but it is well worth a look.
See you along the Trail.
11 May 2011
Swiss International Air Lines 022
Filed under Movie
Red Stripe under a Jamaican moon
Heat radiates from patio stones
even in the darkness.
Sweat beads roll slowly down the amber bottle.
O’er the mountain,
its green shades seen as black,
the yellow orb climbs quickly
to add its reflected light to the night
as it hangs like a Communion wafer in the sky.
A breeze stirs the leaves.
I drink
and remember.
23 May 2011
University of the West Indies
Mona Campus, Jamaica
Nightmares
Life ended
and the nightmare began
when they came,
the so-called soldiers;
came and took her,
took and armed her,
armed and used her,
used and raped her.
Life began,
new possibility,
when she learned
a child she carried;
stirring in her womb,
crying at his birth,
nursing at her breast,
laughing at her side.
Life ended
in another nightmare.
Again came
the so-called soldiers;
though loved by her so dearly,
tormented by the children,
rejected by the village,
her young son went with them.
23 May 2011
University of the West Indies
Kingston, Jamaica
Filed under Poem
Ultra Deck
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Under the great white tent,
beneath our trampling feet
through the holes and around the seams
of the Ultra Deck,
slender green shoots spring;
seeking sun,
affirming life.
22 May 2011
University of the WestIndies
Kingston, Jamaica
Filed under Poem
Arpilleras
Flour sacks and
scraps of cloth
brightly colored,
pieced together,
stitched together,
transformed by skilled hands:
art of resistance
witness to sorrow,
remembering pain.
Flour sacks and
scraps of cloth
brightly colored,
pieced together,
stitched together,
transformed by skilled hands:
art of resistance
love’s affirmation,
proclaiming hope.
23 May 2011
University of the West Indies
Kingston, Jamaica
Filed under Poem
The ways you learn things
Watching The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, I started backtracking an actress – something that I often do.
I discovered that Alice Krige who played Morgana Le Fey was the Borg Queen in various Star Trek flicks and played the love interest for Harold Abrahams (played by Ben Cross who played Sarek in the most recent Star Trek – yes, I wonder if I have cinematic ADD) in Chariots of Fire.
It’s a small world.
Cue Vangelis.
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Movie
Rats! Missed it
And I was so in the market for some ginormous fleas. I will have to pay closer attention next year.
Filed under Photo
A better answer
I think I have come up with a better answer.
The Shire on the Hudson was used for many years by interns serving the Presbyterian Church at the United Nations.
Neighbors apparently got used to this. They give very quizzical looks when they realize that I live there. And after a moment or two of thought, they usually come up with a profound observation along the lines of, “You aren’t an intern, are you?”
So far I have let people off the hook gently. I quote Nancy Reagan and then explain that I am not an intern and that we have reconfigured the ministry and its staffing pattern.
This happened again today and it makes me think that the time has come to make a change. After significantly less careful pondering that it deserves, I have come up with an alternative response.
“You aren’t an intern, are you?”
“Why yes. Yes I am. And think how old that must make you.”
I’ll let you know what happens if I try it.
See you along the Trail.
