What happens when you allow your mind to wander at the beach

?What happens when you allow your mind to wander at the beach: a collection of poetry - before I delete it.

Death by Desire

I looked into her eyes and saw history

In which love, death, and ecstasy is her story

Her skin smooth and brown

Her lips looking more like a red rose trimmed crown

Hair so black stars seemed befitting

A shyness that made her more intriguing

She’s not one woman but a story of many past and to come

Women whose passion can build a mighty kingdom

You can’t ignore what power she possesses

And how she creates in men so many obsesses

Learn to treat her with respect

Because she has many more weapons than you expect

But the greatest of them all

Is what your shattered heart would call

Death by Desire

For she kindles her own spiritual fire

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(This poem is in response to efforts by certain White Nationalist groups, such as the National Vanguard, to characterize people of South Texas as ideological predecessors to groups such as ISIS. In fact, most of the those killed by the Texas Rangers during 1915 were defending their property.)

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Pride

?She buried her young face in the hot sand

As a bullet suddenly dug deep into her hand

She didn’t scream or shout

Just let the blood trickle out.

She looked to her left and saw her sister Maria fall

Then could see Maria’s lips whispering to no one at all

Eva knew to whom Maria spoke

She was asking for forgiveness for the vows she broke.

Eva carefully raised her head

To see who else was dead

But all she saw was a Ranger standing tall

Walking over bodies as if they didn’t matter at all.

Eva pulled her rifle to her tear soiled face

Looking carefully at where to place

The bullet she would soon let fly

Hoping the Ranger who killed Maria would also die.

She aimed carefully and true

As she watched the Ranger walking toward her thinking, she was dead too;

Eva stood and shouted taking the Ranger by surprise

“My family lives here” as she looked into his eyes

She pulled the trigger amidst her cries

“My family lives here” as death took two more under the South Texas sky.

It was called La Plan de San Diego to those who cared

A plan held together by the love for their land her friends and family shared

For each other and for their long-held land

This was to be their final hope and victorious stand.

Such is the history that still flows

Through the veins of those from a land only the cactus and hot Sun knows.

To understand the anger and the pride

And why their heritage and ancestry they refuse to hide

Don’t judge until you know the past their people had to survive.

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?Work

?Like a thirst-quenching oasis surrounded by hot sand everywhere

A green island in a vast sea of emptiness colored blue

Hope where there was only despair

Lips whispering “I love you”.

Mirages, creatures of the imagination

Born from the womb of frustration

Conceived by your isolation.

You question taking the next step

But waking up is something you must accept

At work, you focus on your task

So, you wear your happy mask

With your soul on your sleeve

Exposed until five pm when you can leave.

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You are a Temp

People are like morning mist on fields of distant grass

Whose existence will too soon pass

Burnt away by the sun

They but can only run

Run! Run! Run!

Away from the cruel ending

Until you finally discover

A nightmare from whose grip you can’t escape or recover

And although the breeze will keep touching someone’s hand

And time for them will be moving as if without end

You are but a moment whose time has come and will not be again

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?She Wore a Crown

?You were so full of life

I remember when we last talked

You argued that life was full of promise and endless

I said it also had disappointment and could be pointless.

You were a child of multiple dimensions

Raised in a home with a strong caring mom

Sent into a world that didn’t care where you came from

It offered so many distractions, glitter, and pretty things

All which you had learned were sins

You tried to live the good life

Be a good wife

Raise a good child

Then it all falls apart

Even though you tried so hard

You couldn’t meet Cosmopolitan’s image

You felt you had failed and just needed a temporary bridge

So, you experimented and did once again what you knew was wrong

But maybe it was how you were to once again be strong

It wasn’t that you were weak

Lies can so loudly speak

Now I speak to you again

But it’s only a one-way conversation

As on your internal bed I lay a carnation

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I Mind You

?I won’t tell you that I love you

And talk of love as if it could be found on the shelves of any Walmart

So, before I talk of love and act as if it comes from the heart

Let’s look where love has its start.

The heart is simply a muscle of tissue and blood

As is any other internal part it has but one reason

To work from birth until death and stop with your last breath

Then be buried with your legs, arms, and head.

For you see, it’s my mind that produces and cradles love

For love is a thought, an inspiration

which requires thinking, feeling, joy and frustration

My mind holds the emotions that create and strengthen “Love”

And like fine wine Love is created and refined with time

And when ready to taste lip to lip

I will not say “I love you” and just take one sip

But will instead say “I mind you with all my soul”.

For my Love feeds and sustains my Soul which will never, never grow old

And we will be together where poets will always write and singers will always sing

Of our Soul’s Love being everywhere and present in everything

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?I Miss You

?You keep coming back to me in my head,

but you couldn't know that because you're dead

you left us all too soon, leaving us with one big wound

I hope you forgave everyone who didn't understand

that your soul was meant to drift like the sand

I will sit here and try to think

?and hope you dance across my mind

as into sleep I slowly sink

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?The Cactus Rose - A Symbol of Resilience

?Consider the Cactus Rose

And where it grows

Hot sun, sharp thorns abound

Rattlesnakes and creatures that crawl and creep

It’s a land not for beauty but for the beast.

How could you beautiful Rose

Allow yourself to be hidden where only the ugliest grows

You could wish for a beautiful flower garden

Amidst your sisters of varied colors, shapes, and scents

Where your value is measured in dollars and cents.

But instead, you accept live where life is scarce

And no one really cares whether you live or die

Where each day you must try

To last at least to see one more morning sky.

But still, you do not allow where you were born or raised

Or whether you attract someone’s gaze

Determine what you will become.

You fight to be the most beautiful flower

And it doesn’t matter where

You’re strong, resilient, and have a purpose

To be the best flower on your own part of earth’s surface

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?A Best Friend

?Allow me to give you a perspective

On how I think of you as a person

You see, I have traveled across the globe

Visited lands known and very remote

Swam in most oceans and seas

Walked the land that was desert and where it would freeze

I strolled down the paths and alleys of distant towns

Met the people of the street as well as those who wore crowns.

And in these United States

I have lived near or in every major city

Where I worked in many places and in different roles

And met so many people more than hundreds of thousands I’ve been told.

But of all these people

I’ve only met one

Who if I travel the world once again

Would be my companion and true friend

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Jesus Christ interviewing for the job of HR Generalist

?Interviewer:?????????????So, you want to work in HR here at Spectacular Inc., Mr. Christ.?This is a very fast paced and demanding environment and we only hire the very best.

Jesus Christ:????????????Well, I have many years of experience being responsible for others, the whole world it feels like.

Interviewer: ?????????????How good are you at handling employee complaints?

Jesus Christ:????????????That’s why I exist, to hear the pains and needs of everyone, and give them hope.?I am compassionate and understanding.

Interviewer:?????????????Well, that fine and dandy, but around here, we need people who aspire, who show others how to be strong and committed.

Jesus Christ:????????????That’s why I do it, to show others how to be strong when they feel weak and be who they really are.

Interviewer:?????????????What certifications or degrees to you have???Do you have any credentials for human resources?

Jesus Christ:????????????No, I don’t have the worldly symbols of success; but I have the experience, integrity, and faith that earned me a resurrection.?Is that sufficient?

Interviewer:?????????????Well, we appreciate your interest in working for Spectacular Inc.?However, we are looking for people who fit our culture. Thank you, Mr. Christ, Spectacular Inc. appreciates your desire to be one of the very best.

?

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?How Does She Do It

?Sunrise sees sadness surrounding your eyes

For today is another day and another compromise

You struggle to make ends meet

Always fighting off defeat

For you have responsibilities

Young ones to raise, clothe, and feed.

You don’t think of yourself

Your belongings are mostly worn and dated

And you keep yourself from screaming how much you hate it.

There were a few men in your life

But none would share the strife

They wanted you for your youthful beauty

But they didn’t want to share a lifelong duty.

You will go to work today

Make your boss happy for working for what he or she will pay

You put up with harassment and discrimination

But you put such things second to your determination

To be a Good Mother your children will appreciate

And thank you some day for choosing to sacrifice as your fate

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Chasing Success

?You silly, pretentious human being

You think today will always be tomorrow

That your work world is permanent and not fleeting

And that hard work can be substituted for the time on earth you could only borrow.

Your illusion is so complete

Because your status and title should have people bowing at your feet

And because of the possessions you have accumulated

Your world must be safe and secure since it’s so well from reality insulated.

But the day will undoubtedly come

When like everyone YOU are the next one

And your title, success, and riches

You will quickly and pleadingly offer in exchange for what this moment is

The moment of your last breath! your last heartbeat! your last tear!

The instance beyond fear when there is absolutely no tomorrow

And it’s too late to wonder if the loss of your life will bring your staff real sorrow.

How many will be close enough to you to hear you pray

That you may one more time be consciousness and go to work one more day

And submit the notice of your resignation by email

To all those in your reporting chain that of your death you must tell

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?The Subtle Side of a Workplace Culture

?I saw your smile almost every morning

It made my heart jump

So much so I gasped

and hoped my blush went unnoticed.

I talked to you, and you created in me a natural high

The way your words floated through my ears

Settled in my heart and mind, and eventually deep into my soul.

I never told you I loved you (I wouldn’t dare)

Although each day there was more reason for me to do so

You were smart, compassionate, humble, so logical, in a subtle, soothing way.

I did things that I hoped you understood were moved by love

I worked hard to be someone you could trust

I tried to be a gentleman, and treat you like the lady you were.

As my life grew more intertwined with yours

Your happiness became my purpose.

I know you accepted me as a friend, nothing more nothing less

I accepted that, as long as I was in your life

Somewhere in my head, I prayed you would eventually become a happy wife.

Others tried to divide us, but our bond was too strong

You made me smarter, braver; I gave you support and you grew

Together we were a formidable team, had they given us the chance

We would have solved their problems; help make their business a success;

But as power can, it moved in a different direction, splitting the two of us

(No room for human dynamics)

And what could have been remains a dream

Unfilled potential, life is sometimes just a cotton candy machine

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?Too Good

You were unconventional, a rebel, a feminist

A humanist and of the weak a defender

You didn’t like bigots, haters, snobs, or any pretender

You were daring and told it like it is and from you it was hard for any narcissist to get a kiss.

You loved the truth no matter who it hurt so you took your lumps and malicious dirt;

Your boss offered you favors in return for your sexual affection

You could have had the work hours of your selection

But instead, you showed him how a grown man falls

When he’s been kicked in the balls.

You were a modern-day Annie Oakley

Brave, courageous, humble and with integrity

You were admired by your peers

And considered a leader who took away others fears.

Yet when it came to getting a promotion or a pay raise

You were rated “marginal” and placed in the “needs improvement’ phase

And after you were told you were not a cultural fit

You take a bold step, became a poet and quit.

So, you learned the difference between hard and productive work

Hard work is for the walking dead, but productive work fulfills your heart and head.

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?One of So Many

?I’ve known thousands of people in my HR role

That I had to hire, fire, and often console

But one thing that always fascinated me

Were how many people appeared with no motivation and empty.

An answer came from an unexpected source

A young girl with tattoos of all sorts

She was sent to see me as an “outlier”

As her supervisor said she should not have been hired.

She said her name was of no importance

And whatever I had to do

To please be quick for she was feeling sick

Because she was pregnant and had cancer too.

So there we sat as my heart grew sad

Trying to convince myself I should not feel bad

So, I told her “firing you is what I have to do

But I wish the best of luck to you”.

She smiled and looked at me pleasantly

With a look that showed patience with me

She said that I looked worried and lost

And perhaps it’s because I was treating people only as a business cost.

She stood and with a smile

Told me that is why employees only stay a short while

And if I wanted to avoid business and personal hell

I should think of people as more than numbers on the P & L

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You Were Going “Somewhere”

?Rising from being a troubled child

Broken home, raised by grandparents, some love once in a while

Empty promises from boyfriends and a husband who wasn’t ready

Left you scarred and by seventeen you were a mom and thirty already.

?You worked hard to earn the money

That would provide for those that called you mommy

Bad bosses, little recognition, you realized the world was far from fair

But through it all, you stayed focused and kept going “somewhere”.

?When I met you, I could not help but realize

How much intelligence, character and compassion shone through your eyes

So, I told you how much I believed in you

And that there were so many beautiful dreams you could make come true

And with that recognition and hope you rose and learned so quickly and grew every day

Then I just got out of your way.

?You now are a beautiful, professional lady

Still hungry to continue fulfilling your potential

You know that what is inside of you is what is essential

And has value beyond any past misfortune or what others say

And that the obstacles you overcame were signs that were showing you the way

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What are we giving up, and what for?

?A quinceanera when you were blossoming

Picnics at the local park with so many cousins

Colorful pi?atas and good tamales you enjoyed eating

It was all so wonderful and such a good feeling

You also listened to your mommy and papi warning you of worldly sin

For the world would soon be yours to play in

?

At eighteen you left to see the world you hadn’t known

You felt you were now ready and fully grown

But you never imagined you needed to be prepared

For a world where even the devil is scared

?

You found that people too often are not real

And the most useful skill is how to steal

You had to learn to live just for now

To be deceiving and get used like a rag doll

?

So now you lost the good within with which you grew

You found instead sweet powder white or blue

And instead of living to raise your own family

You are doing ten to twenty in the state penitentiary

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?Who failed you?

?Who failed you?

Was it what you didn’t learn in school?

Was it anyone you knew?

Was it the image you were told you should look like?

The magazines, the shows, the pressure to always “look right”?

?

Who failed you?

Was it the church that told you only one way was right?

Or that you were pulled by so many different worlds that your humanity was no longer in sight?

Who or what took away your pride and your urge to fight

out of your hopeless plight?

?

Who failed you?

Did I?

When you needed someone with which to cry

Did I tell you I was too busy but I gave you a number to try?

?

Who failed you?

We who didn’t understand

That your mind and soul lived in a completely different land?

That you saw a world you couldn’t accept

And by threatening human emotions you were swept?

?

Who failed you?

You were a poet, a writer

You lived where few set foot

Although people saw you as lost and a victim of pills you took

When all the while you were already experiencing

A universe we see only when our body our soul is leaving

Who failed you?

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?Teenager Caught

Teenager caught in a cataclysmic storm

Making you wonder why you were born

Lost in the menacing misery

Of so much electronic wizardry.

How do you stand on your own two feet

When people remind you that you should be seen but not speak

And your creative mind is buried deep under miles of manure

When what you think is not approved by the state legislature

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?An Ode to the Person Who Wants It All

?

I meet so many people who want more

They try so hard to fulfill their most important “need”

Thinking that by just opening one more door

They also will be a LinkedIn example of how to succeed.

But they must continue to show others their efforts are not in vain

So, they look for more to acquire

Believing immortality is achieved through power and fame

And the purpose of life is to keep climbing higher and higher.

So, they struggle for greater status and praise

Because the money and attention worldly success will bring

Will show the world they are worthy of attention and envious gaze

And the world their humble life story will loudly sing.

But while pursuing their recognition and fame

The world they live in and their soul are put to the torch

But there is no worry and for they aren’t to blame

Because the world is their simply their stage and their ego their church.

But there is a poetic end to their exhausting race

Because try as hard as they may

In the end they occupy a lonely wooden oblong polished case

In the uncaring ground where everyone is equal and in silence lay

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?I have known several truly brave souls

?

I have known several truly brave souls

Some wore a uniform, some wore a business dress, some wore what they had

but one battle they shared

Was that of fighting those without integrity

Whose purpose was to make our world bad.

I speak of several individuals in particular

cops for many years

they saw the underside of the world

often having moments of heart stopping fears.

Their most difficult battles however

were against those that wore the blue

for some of the criminals looked no different to me and you

but betrayed the badge to which good cops were so true.

Good cop versus bad cop often occurs

hiding from justice bad cops

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?Beautiful Minds

?

When you see her face, you think of grace

Stunning beauty must be snooty

She surely walks among the elite

Mixing with highbrows and dances only to the uptown beat.

She could be like that and act like a spoiled brat

But if you really get to know her

Your ego best be ready to be made sober

For she is a woman in her own right

And for peace and human rights she will fight.

You see she doesn’t like the fake and well to do

And those that tell her what to think and what to do

She thinks Trump is a con and a creep

And she will demonstrate against him on any street.

She is a feminist strong honest and to the point

And your best friend she will be

If you don’t keep her from being free.

She is an international model sought after for her looks

But she feels most comfortable in jeans and wearing boots

So don’t stereotype those that believe in justice and peace

Because their beautiful minds will not accept living in the shadow of any beast

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?You Too Could be a Millionaire!

?He said “give me more, more”

Reading every posting that other people adore

For their riches, power, and fame

Oh, how he wanted to be the same

?

He didn’t personally know the smiling faces

For they lived in glimmering famous places

But in his mind, he pretended

That for such riches he was also intended

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So, like the posting said

He worked and worked and paid someone more

Because that was all the man in the ad said was called for

Success came to anyone who paid for advice and “never gave up”

And using your commonsense would get you to stop.

?

So, one morning the aspiring millionaire woke up dead

But one last time looked at LinkedIn and that smiling guy

Was still smiling not realizing real people die

And you wonder how he could not care

That you never became a millionaire

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?Learn from Your Roots

?

As we dance to the music of today’s tunes

We forget the steps that past songs played

So, where the world too often lies silent in tombs

As we live only for today and let history’s lessons fade:

?

Family roots run deep

And many stories of our past

Lie in people who do not last

So, talking to a grandparent or oldest aunt

Will tell us what TV shows or history books can’t

?

My grandmother prepared food for the army of Villa

My grandfather provided shelter for the poet and fighter Anicito Pizana

And if you ask your older loved ones of their history

It’s certain they will be pleased to solve the mystery

Of their life’s and your proud ancestry

?

Don’t let these opportunities to learn pass

For what they can teach you will make you stronger

And provide an inspiration that no worldly spell can quell

And of your proud history to your grandchildren, you will tell

?

So many follow the false belief

That they like media idols will someday be bigger than life

Only to find loneliness and grief

When their life is stolen by a lying thief.

?

The best hope to be someone

Is to become part of everyone

For we all share the same fears and dreams

Regardless of where our ancestors came from.

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?Bubba and Sue

?This is the story of Bubba and Sue

Whose favorite outing is going to the Walmart human zoo

They don’t bother to read much

Except for the National Enquirer and National Vanguard

The Times, Newsweek, or Atlantic they dare not touch

?

They don’t know the people at the other end of town

Except they’re foreigners with strange languages and dance like clowns

For Bubba and Sue the Grand Ole Opry is all they need

And Rush Limbaugh, Alex Jones and Trump is whose word they heed

?

Bubba and Sue make sure their children’s school

Doesn’t teach what those darn scientists say about where humans came from

And they certainly don’t want their kids to mix with someone named Tyrone or Juan

For everyone knows America only is for them and not just anyone

?

Bubba and Sue believe the world will last forever

And climate change is just a change in the weather

And inoculations are for those that are not pure

For God will protect them and any illness cure

?

For those who are not like Bubba and Sue

They may end up being a passing phase

Believing they too are a part of the human race

And letting Bubba and Sue govern every place.