POETIC OFFERINGS

       ROBLESQUE
                            (to Al Robles with love)

             ¡Silencio! Al Robles is missing
It’s way too quiet around here these days & we miss him
This one of a kind poetic daredevil
Transplanted culture personified … Adobo con Bebop
With an awe-inspiring playful impish smile
That always let the best in us know we were at home
Lifting up tradition anytime it lost its balance & tried to fall
Trading the tallest of tales in the park
Conjuring strength in ageless Spirits older than time
Or locked in a musical trance, happy to be completely
Under the spell of a Bobby Enriquez tune @ Bajones
A Pinoy Homeboy on a mission
The strength of his soul reborn with every Poem
A loveable rascal defying description
            ¡Silencio! Where is he?
Al, the Fillmore Flipster
Stalking creativity with a vengeance
Finding pieces of creativity & truth everywhere
In everything
The eternal essence of intelligent existence
Leading him on, dancing word circles all around him
There were days when none of it made any sense, but
Then it was funny & beautiful, ridiculous or ugly
More than once it was both inspiring & tragic
Historic landmarks in the making, a blossoming
Myth building Poems, tons of Stories needing to be told
And they came pouring down like an unstoppable flood
A furious Waterfall
Out of the mouths of angry misused Farm Workers, and
Found themselves all tangled up in the irony of
A meal of Pilipino Soul Food
With a side of Mangos & Collard greens for dessert
            ¡Silencio! If you were you listening
You could see the tongue in cheek brilliance in the way
He tasted every word as they rolled out of his mouth
In the way he digested the ambiance of Poems being born
And followed the rhythm of words as they came swaggering
Dancing in the streets of North Beach & Cesar’s Latin Palace
Squashed inhibition & found a good part of his heart in the trance
Of hotter than hot Jam sessions @ Jimbo’s Bop City
Al, a Fillmore Flipster, a clever predictable trickster
The undisputed Poet Laureate of Manila Town
Who comfortably wrapped himself in a mixture of
Smiley Winters, Kulingtang, Flip Nuñez & Sarah Vaughan
            ¿Silencio? The Muse is in mourning
But there will never be enough tears
To wash away the legacy of his vision
The spiritual pride & integrity of his Poetry
Lives in the resurrection of the I-Hotel
Hides behind the hungry laughter of city slick Hustlers
Is buried beneath stolen visions & the exposure of
Soulless big time urban magicians who sell fantasies
To the disillusioned
His powerful word magic conjured
The reclamation of otherwise unacknowledged young men
Young men who’d left their all a world away
On the other side of a sea of broken dreams
But never forgot to take the time to heal, rejoice & laugh
As they partied, gambled, danced the Cha Cha & romanced
Nights & sore backs away @ the California Hotel
Held up the economy on Columbus & the clubs on Broadway
And almost wore out the pavement up & down Kearny & Grant
Then came to on the same old farms picking fruit the next day
            ¿Silencio?
NO! There is no sadness strong enough
To erase the hipness of his vision
Al Robles, our Fillmore Flipster, our eternal trickster
Magnificent Manong!
It will never be over & we will not be silent!!!
                                       Copyright © Avotcja

IN THE GARDEN OF ECSTASY

Ecstasy
is
A forest of Guitars
Dancing thru Rainbows
with
Nights full of typewriters
&
Days that taste like Piña
Ecstasy
is
An ocean of Clarinets
playing
Jazz & Street Music
Harlem Mambo Music
A rainbow of Music
A shower of Flute Songs
whose
only meaningful job
is
Purifying the path
to
Ecstasy
Copyright © Avotcja

                   WHO IS THAT LADY?

Betty,
       …..Betty,
Betty Carter
That's right!!!!!
That's who the Lady is
Betty is not just any singer
She's a teacher/preacher/sacred Conjure-woman
Afro-American Goddess of voice
Betty Carter is a song on legs!!!!!!!
Are you hep to her?
She is walking music
Music that dances ..... hypnotizes
She is the kind of music that makes love to you
Or kicks your behind (if you be jiving)
You dig??

Hey!!!!!!!!!
Her name is Betty!!!
This woman does not sing into a mic
Betty Carter eats up microphones by the dozens
Chews 'em up until they're part of her
Betty Carter is not just a singer ..... I said
She eats, drinks & sleeps music
Her voice is a whole reed/rhythm section
A whole orchestra lives inside of her
Grows stronger every second, every year,
       with every note
Making us stronger (if we be strong enough to listen)
Her strength is in refusing to water down the truth
For an extra nickel or dime
Her beautiful double edged soul
Was created-born B-flat/Be-bop/Scat
And it just ain't for sale ....... Jim!!!!!

Betty Carter is her name
And her music is no game
Her powerful powers come from making us powerful
Like the music/ woman is strong & gentle ..... And,
Like strongly gentle, and
Gently strong, .....strong, .......STRONG
That's right!
That's who the Lady is
Betty Carter is not just a singer
Betty Carter is a song on legs
Are you hep to her?????
This overpowering,
Always flowering
Microphone eating
Walking music machine
Her name is Betty
       …..Betty Carter
BETTY CARTER
That's who the Ladyis!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
                Copyright © Avotcja

THE ALCHEMY OF RE-EMERGING

It's sorcery
Like twigs on the tree of life
Dancing in the shadows of an unending dream
A sacred shimmering
Energies made flesh
We come
And again
It's sorcery
Like the wind
We are
An invisible presence made manifest
We come
Singing like a Bumble Bee
A force on an intangible mission
It's sorcery
And when we're "on"
We are
Swift like the Hummingbird
Or slow
Stable icons, strong like the Coco Palm
At best
Humankind comes
Magnificent
Shattering the stillness of the night sky
Full of divine Light & promise
Alive with the gift of holistic magic
If only this time
We don't forget to keep our egos in check
We, finally free
Free to be the beauty we were meant to be
A radiant sorcery
A new beginning
And the hope of another Spring
Copyright © Avotcja