Viva La Ha!

The Spartans descended once again upon La Hacienda on Friday, April 6th! Surrounded by delicious tacos al carbon and chile con queso, we shared fond memories and heard about each other's new pursuits. (Please notice how we were conveniently located near the restrooms... just in case of emergencies :o)


From left to right: John K., Ryan B., Todd S., "Don Vito Corleone," Shelley S., David D., and John S.!



Jorge and Shelley



John... and Ryan!



John and Sunnye



Shelley and David



Todd and Jorge... and we take this very seriously



Los tres amigos!




Thanks, everyone, for making our evening such a good time! We're hoping to find more Spartans to add to our invitation list in the weeks ahead. So, stay tuned! We will definitely reconvene at La Ha very soon!

All the best,
TWS

Poem: "Three Postcards"

In this poem, I tried to evoke feelings, colors, and sensations and then give them away as a memento to anyone interested in reading them. The three stanzas are "postcards" from places I have actually been: Istanbul, the Rocky Mountains, and the Caribbean Sea.

Postcards are both inexpensive and exotic. They cost pennies, and yet they are extraordinary messages from places most of us will never have the opportunity to see in person. Who doesn't like to receive a postcard from some far away place, allow our eyes to wander across an unfamiliar postage stamp, and touch the curious red ink of an official postmark?

This poem-postcard, though, tries to show that within each of us there are thousands of "postcard" memories that we never send to the people we know and care for. For me, the memories in this poem are indeed from foreign locations... but they also seek to convey those wondrous moments that still reside deep within me. These are feelings that yearn for company. They say, "I wish you were here."

I've postmarked them, and sent them along to you.


Three Postcards

Silhouetted on a Turkish balcony,
My soul genuflects
Under the mysterious influence
Of the minarets' call to prayer.

Rising onto the summit
Of a brooding winter peak,
I balance, with arms extended,
Along its groaning crenellations.

As I split the surface
Of a glistening copper sea,
I see my skin painted gold
In the warm gaze of a languid sun.


--2005, by TWS

"ICE" Just Getting Warmed Up

"ICE" is the shorthand name for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Earlier this month, ICE conducted several raids in cities across the nation for the purpose of arresting and deporting illegal immigrants living in the United States.

As it turns out, this month's ICE raids are actually part of a recently uncovered comprehensive strategy known as "Endgame." The Endgame strategy, which was drafted in 2003, calls for the apprehension and removal of all immigrants living and working in the United States without proper documentation by the year 2012.

There are roughly 12 million undocumented immigrants living in America today. (Some sources put the number at 20 million or higher.) That means ICE agents must arrest 2.4 million persons a year (4 million if you use the higher estimate) between now and 2012 if they are to meet the aggressive goals of Endgame.

According to a Boston Globe article by Carol Rose and Christoper Ott, however, ICE operations in Massachusetts have neglected basic civil liberties and exacted an unavoidably high human cost in the process. "The pace of raids will need to accelerate," say Rose and Ott. "We'll hear more stories of the human suffering that results from [ICE's] tactics: of nursing babies who become dehydrated when separated from their mothers, of 7-year-olds frantically looking for their missing mothers, and of minors being flown to distant states without adequate protection."

During similar raids this month in California, ICE agents are reported to have conducted illegal interrogations, arrested people for whom they didn't have warrants, and coerced immigrants into signing stipulated removal orders without access to family or legal counsel. In some cases, says one California resident, ICE agents failed to report the arrest of parents to Child Protective Services.

Endgame is the product of the Office of Detention and Removal (DRO) at the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In the 2003 Endgame document, DRO Director Anthony S. Tangeman, said, "We must strive for 100% removal rate."

Rose and Ott, though, call the Massachusetts ICE invasions "inhumane" and "sinister." "If ICE couldn't handle 361 detainees without violating people's rights and tearing families apart," they ask, "how will they cope with millions?"

-TWS

What's my Fortune Cookie telling me now?

"A cheerful message is on its way to you."



Hmmm.... The day after I opened my Fortune Cookie, the following items arrived in my mailbox:

"You might already be a sweepstakes winner!" "You're already pre-approved!" "Open immediately: An important message from your Student Loan Provider is enclosed!" "Avoid foreclosure now!"

I wonder which one my cookie was thinking of?

:o)

The Kite Runner

I just finished reading the first novel by Afghan-American author, Khaled Hosseini. A long list of praise for The Kite Runner is printed on the back cover, and in the first several pages of the paperback edition.

Pick up the book, and you'll be greeted by accolades such as "powerful... haunting," "moving and unexpected," "extraordinary," "evocative... and genuine," and "riveting."

Regrettably, it seems like some book reviewer out there is always calling a book "riveting" these days. It's enough to make me believe that America is populated by a swarm of laid-off steel workers who have taken up the pen as an avocation while looking for another line of work.

That said, The Kite Runner is not so much riveting as it is deeply human. Amir, a privileged boy from Kabul, tells the story of his troubled childhood in Afghanistan and about his flight to America amid war and personal tribulation. The framework of the story rests on Amir's closest family and friends, his father Baba and his family's servants Ali and Hassan. Yet, that framework of relationships becomes the structure upon which much larger and complex ideas find expression.

A boy whose only desire is to receive the love and approval of his father suddenly finds himself in a tale of friendship and betrayal, personal loss, the tensions of economic class and status, modern warfare, the brokenness of generations, the search for meaning and redemption, and the present obligations of a tortured past.

For a first-time novelist, Khaled Hosseini handles every aspect of his story with the skilled pen of a life-long writer. By the end of the novel, his words held my attention and earned my respect. And I found the book to be much, much more than riveting. This is a tremendous book.

- TWS

Here I am with Gene Wilder!

Thanks to my good friend, Lee Coke, I found out that Gene Wilder would be signing copies of his latest book at a Borders bookstore here in Houston on March 9!

I got to the store about an hour ahead of time, and there were already about thirty people waiting in line. By the time Mr. Wilder entered the building, the line had grown to a few hundred people. When he approached the table where he would be signing books, the whole line started cheering. Mr. Wilder smiled warmly and waved to everyone in line.



I was nervous to meet the actor who has starred in some of my favorite movies, including The Producers, Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, and Young Frankenstein. Still, when I presented a copy of his autobiography for him to sign, Mr. Wilder said, "Oh!" as if he was surprised that I would have brought anything for him to sign at all.



I told Mr. Wilder that the very first movie I could remember seeing in a movie theater was Silver Streak, the 1976 comedy he filmed with Richard Pryor. (I was five years old when it came out, but I guess mom and dad figured I was ready for a comedy/thriller in which one of the bad guys gets bumped-off with a spear gun. But, hey, I turned out fine. Right?)

Mr. Wilder was very gracious, and he listened very attentively while I told him how much I had appreciated his films... and how much I truly valued the autobiography he had written. He just seemed like a very kind person. And he thanked me for the things I was telling him. "Thank you. Thank you very much," he said. And then I wished him a good evening, and walked away with a really fine autograph.



Not a bad way to spend a Friday night!

-TWS

P.S. Thanks again to Lee Coke! Visit his website, and find out when you can meet Mr. Wilder in your own hometown!

Poem: "Elm Pond"

Here's another poem I wrote a couple of years ago, when I was living in the northeast. At the time, I was reading about poets who had lived and worked in Massachusetts and I learned about a place called Elm Pond that had inspired some of those poets. In the winter, people still ice skate on the frozen pond.

So, without ever having been to Elm Pond myself, I tried to "travel" there in my imagination and perceive what I could learn from the voices of the poets who were somehow still speaking to us from that place.


Elm Pond

We go to meet the poets
In that small space
Between the blades and hard frost
Still scraping across Elm Pond
Watching for their carved verse
In the faithful ice
Like skating planchettes
On a careworn Ouija board
Spelling out the memories
Of closed factories and car crashes
Shoe leather and cobbled streets
A scrawled warning
That all poets die
Of internal injuries
Whispering their secrets
Behind a cupped hand:
Write your love letters
With borrowed words
Make your arguments
With the tenderness of pear trees
Greet the cancer of darkness
With purpose and charity
Find a torn heart
And listen for the logic of God


--2005, by TWS