Negros Take Notice: Remembering Quakertown

Quakertown was a vibrant African-American community settled in 1875 by freed slaves in Denton, Texas. This neighborhood of approximately 60 families had it's own stores, churches, a doctor and by 1913 had constructed its own school (that was burnt to the ground the day before classes were to begin and rebuilt in 1915). By all accounts Quakertown was a vibrant community. Except...

On the Road to Spring Break: Vagabondia

Vacation Time is nearing and the yen to get away
Is tugging at the heartstrings as we wait the coming day.
Just to take the car and trailer and go roaming here and there;
And sleep out in the open; and eat good country fare.

Quaint Sayings of Uncle Jeff: On Hope

Uncle Jeff ruminated on thoughts and themes from sorrow to happiness at the turn of the last century. His niece, Iva, noted nine such sayings. As a young woman of 26 in 1929, Iva was determined to collect and write down the quaint sayings of her Uncle Jeff for posterity's sake. She wrote down his homespun adages within the pages of her second-hand copy of Three Centuries of American Poetry and Prose.

Uncle Jeff had this to say about hope...

Pie-eyed

The surface of a skirt —
The surfeit of flesh —

Deviants will save us!
The crew will shave us.

Prep our skin, slap it
skim and rosy. Ready.

Li Po is Bringing in the Wine for Year of the Sheep

Is it the Year of the Sheep or the Year of the Goat? Anybody up for Year of the Ram?

It may even be the Year of the Antelope! Whereas we have all these different words in English for all these animals, the Chinese word — yáng — is a generic word that encompasses all of the above. We'll never know which one the keepers of the zodiac were thinking of at the time. It's enough to drive a man to drink! And if you are going to celebrate Chinese New Year there is no better drunk or poet to celebrate with than Li Po.

We couldn't find a Li Po poem referencing a goat but we did find one referencing a sheep so we will raise our glass and toast Li Po and the Year of the Sheep by bringing in the wine!

We Don’t Fear the Water

We live in a semi tropical valley
Surrounded by liquid mountains
Splashing above our heads
Held back by flood walls and levees.
We don’t fear the water — It has provided for us

Night's Mardi Gras

Night is the true democracy. When day
    Like some great monarch with his train has passed,
    In regal pomp and splendor to the last,
The stars troop forth along the Milky Way,
A jostling crowd, in radiant disarray,
    On heaven's broad boulevard in pageants vast.

Chicken Beach

Beached coconuts
Lay in the sand
Surf touches toes
Pelicans glide in formation
Tuba de Fresca today?
Si! Okay!

The Chapbook — Isn’t It Amusing

Isn’t it amusing that they think
we’re too old for...
and don’t see when our passion stirs?

They don’t notice your hand
reaching over to arrange my letters
in the middle of the game.

Love Acrostic

There comes a day
Each and every February
Roses, chocolates, wine
Etcetera are the norm
Some say it with a card or a poem
All say it with love

Rey Momo: Mexican Mardi Gras Crown Gringo King and Queen

Jay Daniel, 2014 Rey Momo Extranjero.

The population of a small fishing village in the Costalegre region of Mexico doubles in winter with the influx of American and Canadian snowbirds. Some come to fish, some come for sun, some come for the culture and others bring their culture with them. Mardi Gras — or Carnival as it is known in Latin America — is one such festival thrown together in a margarita blender and served up in the days before Lent in Barra de Navidad, Jalisco, Mexico. The crowning of the gringo Rey Momo is a highlight for the turistas and an honor for one lucky ex-pat.

New Orleans has it's King of the Mardi Gras and south of the border the King of Carnival is known as Rey Momo. In Brazil, Carnival accounts for 70 pecent of all tourism to the country. But who or what is a Rey Momo and how did it make its way to Barra de Navidad?