Flight 587

And Another Today,
A Crash in New York City
Is this a life of normalcy?
Are we forced to become desensitized
So we can get on with our lives?
Or live each day with the guilt that
Only luck saved our lives,
And we are fortunate to not have to say,
"Mi hijo esta muerto," today.

-in memory of the victims of Flight 587 which left JFK Int'l Airport in New York City on November 12, 2001 en route to the Dominican Republic and crashed into an apartment building in Queens at around 9:15 am. Around 150 Dominicans were killed. A total of about 250 people were on board.

An American Tragedy

And how can I explain
What I feel today
I grieve for you
Who burns the flame of life
the one reaching beneath the rubble
whose screams were never heard
the guy who went to work
the fireman who gave his fire
Father Judge who left a following behind
"Frasier" won't be the same without you
A tv anchor crying "what should the pilot do?"
A tragic phone call saying "honey, I love you."

Long Live Che

On T-shirts and buttons
Across the U.S.A.
A man of ideals
Drowning in an ironic capitalistic sea,
A bleeding crucified body,
In La Paz Bolivia lies this man,
Where the U.S. was part of the plan
So, now who reaps the royalties
of this dead man?

Rajiv Uncle

Is this the way life is today?
A slow degenerative consumption of the body?
A torture that wrenches the very heart of a family?
And if it is, then I don't understand life today.
Only 44 years and then he passed away,
He had so much more to say,
But it was already in the 4th stage,
How could it be this way?
He was the baby of a family,
that grew up where my mom used to play,
Always smiling and dancing freely,
A Director at Altera, his company,
A Father with a loving family,
A look like Kevin Costner
my brother and I used to say,
So happy, he was, I remember
that day,
Could you please tell me,
then, why he was taken away?

-in memory of Rajiv Kumar who died from lung cancer on November 24, 2001. He is survived by his wife and 2 children.

Aaliyah

A time of tragedy
When a star of today
Shattered by tomorrow
No time to digest the sorrow
What will her parents do?
What will her boyfriend say?
When their baby doesn't come home today?
No camera, cut, or mic can take away
What happened the day before yesterday
No time to get her B.A.
To be more than a face in L.A.
But listen to the songs and
Ambition of what could have been
A girl who knew how to do a lot more than sing.

-August 27, 2001- in memory of Aaliyah

The Vanishing Race

It does not matter if you let your hair down
Your chin held high without a smile,
Or tighten your hair into 2 long braids,
Or say that you didn't drink a drop of alcohol;
Or tell everyone your mom makes the best frye bread in town,
And that casinos and reservations were not always around,
And that the Alcatraz was not always a prison ground,
Or that parts of your ancestors are on display,
It does not matter what you say,
Even if dreamworks actually made nightmares
And the Road to El Dorado was
Actually The Road to El Infierno
And you can't remember the last time
Thanksgiving gave
Only when it took your lives,
Your land, your liberty,
With Treaties and lies,
Broken Promises,
Broken Bones,
It does not matter what you say,
Cuz' you're not relevant anyway.

An Ode to Mom

I hope you are enjoying your special day
because even when I'm miles away
or even when I feel stuck at home
It does not matter where I roam
because a mother will always lie miles ahead
as inside her I was born and bred
and a mom's love will always stand apart
because I hold a special place
reserved for her in my heart.