Original Poem: Solitary Hope

I thought to also post another poem on the heels of the last one, titled, "You". This inspirational piece came before the last one I just posted on The Golden Sentence. This poem reflects on a recent emotion, I had when I was without work and finding a shred of hope I could find. As with these situations, I turned to God for answers and from my prayers came this poem. I don't want to get too religious here, just emphasize the spirituality of the poem. Hope you enjoy it. Thank you for reading.

Solitary Hope

It doesn’t mean this feeling has to end

this bit of joy, of which I have found

its lock more glorious than Samson The Israelite

My life has been one setback backed up against itself

Give me this day, this slingshot Lord

Let me be David, let me have the favor of a thousand kings

and the might of a hundred million marching ants

upon that proverbial hill upon which my heart reigns

Give the strength to endure

lost jobs, jaded hopes, and fading health

you knew that hill before I climbed it

Here I stand with only the prejudiced land, a solitary sun

and a million uncast stars to mark my cost

I give you the lead Lord,

show me which we way the war was won.

(C) Rafael Andrade Garza, September 26, 2015.

New Poem: You

After a long absence from my poetry-driven blog, I'm submitting a recent poetry piece that's introspective and timeless, about the most universal of topics: love. Yet, it isn't all introspective as it's not about anyone or anything in general; it's about the meaning of it and it's impact on one's life. Hope you enjoy it. I would appreciate any comments.


YOU

You are words without sound

that when spoken detonate love

You are the calm that came after the storm

but, stayed long enough to rebuild

You were a thundercloud

while my breath held lightening

You are my ink to paper

that births verbs into metaphors

You oscillate wildly

in an aching Smiths song

You are the last record store

who stays reluctantly open at the edge of the world

You are a sweet euphoria that when

remembered puts together the perfect cast

You are my Paris

when Poteet is all I needed

You are the flag which my heart unfurls

ready to abhor any war or score

You are a living poem

that breathes inside of me

You are a slow burning ember

crackling a lifetime of memory.

© Rafael Andrade Garza, November 28, 2015.

Original Poem: The Greater Space

The following poem was inspired by a audio video of a Nasa probe of space around 2003. The video highlighted haunting voices and electromagnetic pulses in space that when heard capture what may be interpreted as voices, collisions of sound, friction etc in space. I was enamored by the sounds captured and it resulted in the following poem. Thanks for reading it.

The Greater Space

There was a voice capture of space in 2000-2003
By Nasa, it raised fears, suspicions, assertions
the rumblings have little facts
a possible fact, some measure of life
was attained
be it by light, sound or image
the rings of Saturn called her lover
the song of Earth
raised desperation to the brink of sunrise
Saturn so far,
has calculated more than her rings
Here on Earth
we hear it all
Albeit, from a distance
the abstractions
constant interactions
a blip,
a sound,
a molecule
trying to reach out
for something other than it's deity
circumference circling around
to let us know
to grab a phone
point at the heavens
cower into the unknown darkness
we have a visitor
it could be our past creations
trying to secure
a passage into the future.

(c) Rafael Andrade Garza, August 20, 2014.

Original Poem: Divided We Fall

After a bit of a hiatus, I bring you a recent poem centered on a conversation I had with a friend about the greatness of Pink Floyd and how their message and lyrics transcend generations. This poem talks about Roger Water's dream or visions and what might be inside his head. I hope you enjoy the poem, thank you for reading and being patient blog readers.

Divided We Fall

I bet Roger Waters
fantastic dreams at night
final cuts
pigs in the sky
creating a world at peace
and piecing together bridges of youth
taking apart the animal inside
is no easy task
quiet desperation is the English way
wars are socialized marketing schemes
and carefully placed drones fall
on the cruel and innocent alike
We all rather be walking in the war
than playing lead roles in cages
But we are all entangled in comfortable battles
in which we are meant to fight in the company of strangers
grouped affairs or solitary flares in the abandoned sky
Whatever words between them
momentary lapses of reason
Bliss such sweet treason
Waters has a repeating dream
that Syd, David, Nick and Richard
are washed ashore
prisms hit the beach
 while the red tide is coming
and Syd grabs the last rainbow by its neck
David serenades the moon to light her stars
Richard plays a melody stirring the currents
Nick strikes a balance in the right light
such sweet sound
their possible pasts drowned
for a minute all was alright
until their walls came up
Who's in command?
David hopes
Roger responds,
We should be closer.

(C) Rafael Andrade Garza, May 20, 2014.

Original Poem: Vanquished City (Tele-graph Poem Series)

It's been a good while, since I've posted on my blog. Time to give it some love. It doesn't mean I haven't been busy working on my writing and other endeavors. I've been working on a new poetry book, centered around the idea of poems written in telegraph style, with the "stop" at intermittent points or pauses and usually around the themes of love, protest and even historical moments in world and U.S. History. This is an example of such a poem, hope you enjoy it.


tempered lights don't produce as much clarity, love.STOP. red sheen in the bedroom window. STOP. invites passion. STOP. Swells with seasons.STOP. and the leaves only turn color when they want to.STOP.  I have stopped stepping over cracks on sidewalks. because, the world is broken.STOP. I no longer point at falling stars.STOP. love has failed us too many times.STOP. we're all just a little broken.STOP.

Original Poem: at the edge of somewhere

Hey loyal Golden Sentence fans...thanks for visiting the blog, while we've been absent. I wanted to share an original poem I had written a long time ago and just now edited and finished. Please comment and let me know if we can bring any other kind of music, social or poetic content you'd like to see here. Hope you enjoy the poem....

at the edge of somewhere

Fall is coming again

as my years keep falling

it is coming like recent storms

we’ve needed

but, I don’t need this

I find myself repeating my mother’s

Mexican dichos

Proverbs of life

What I couldn’t stay away at 25

I watch now in my late 30’s

Is it any sweeter now?

It’s so hard to tell

The street ditch swells

From this beating rain

I drive by and watch

The rushing water

swirl around water bottles

gliding cardboard boxes

pushing and  maneuvering

these articles

to the edge of somewhere

so much of this life

is meant to voyage alone

our lost voices

and messages inside impossible bottles

many voyeur eyes

can’t assemble mechanical puzzles

or fix the jagged pieces of their lives

too fixated on today

and failed escapades

don’t bother to watch the currents

much these days

ebb and flow

travel with or without the company

of you and us

© Rafael Andrade Garza, August 30, 2013.

photo courtesy of chikuba.wordpress.com

Sports: NBA FINALS 2013

                                              *photo credit to google images *

 “When Breaking Records Doesn’t Matter”
June 13, 2013
By Rey Andrade-Garza

San Antonio, TX

          The San Antonio Spurs didn’t just break some records in game 3, in retrospect some were shattered. Gone it seems are the days when breaking records didn’t just matter it solidified a team’s place in mystical lore. It added to the mystique. Oh, the glory days of 2012, when it was the Miami Heat breaking the records and not these bland Spurs. The Spurs Big Three won their 100^th playoff game together, 2^nd all time for a trio.  The Spurs set a NBA Finals record with 16 three pointers. Gary Neal tied John Starks for 24 pts is also a Finals record.  Those were the records that were scrolling after the game on ESPN and NBA TV that no one out of San Antonio seemed to pay any attention to.  Other statistics that were also glaring were the following:  Miami is 4-5 in the last nine, Spurs 7-1. The second trio on the Spurs in Leonard, Neal and Green are outscoring the Big Three of Miami in LBJ, Bosh and Wade. You tell me who is playing championship style basketball? What is most glaring is this fact that no one seems to have caught on to: Miami is 3-23 vs Spurs in San Antonio all time! Spurs have taken games 1 & 3 which are the statistical plateau markers everyone points to in who will win in this series but no one seems to care. Everyone seems to be giving the defending champions a pass they seem to not make on the court let alone deserve in this conversation. What is more indicative is this double standard for the Miami Heat that should be reserved for storied franchises like the Celtics or the Lakers, hell even the Spurs as the fourth best franchise in NBA history should get that kind of rarified respect but they don’t.  Some call this Miami team a dynasty with one chip to the Big 3 belt, really?! Flip the script and no one would give the Spurs a pass as defending champions playing this poorly in a playoff run. I would say if LeBron James were not playing on this team everyone would admit that this defending champion, with this current 9 game record, ranks as the worst in 20 plus years.  In fact, I will take a step further, Wade is playing hurt yet, when Manu went down a couple of years ago during a playoff run no one gave the Spurs a chance and with good reason one of the main pieces or the glue of the team wasn’t on the court or couldn’t even step on the court to contribute in anyway. Reading this morning’s shoot around Tony Parker seems a lock to play tonight in any condition which begs the question: Why is it that the Heat’s injuries are more magnified and forgiven but the Spurs play bang up all year and the same respect is not given? Let me make the point clearer.  Stephen A. Smith said yesterday in our fair city, that no way the Spurs win the championship with Tony Parker not on the court, yet when Sean Elliott interjected that the Spurs have proven all year they can step up when one of the Big Three didn’t play he forgot to mention that the Big Three for the Spurs missed 50 games together, yet still as a team, compiled 50 or more wins for 14th straight year. Everyone makes excuses for why the Heat is playing this shoddy but not me.  James with his humorous cape delivered a guarantee when in hindsight he should just keep his mouth shut.  He hasn’t delivered, champions always deliver. MJ never scored less than 22 pts in any NBA Finals game, yet, with all his guarantees, LBJ hasn’t scored 20 in any of the 3 Finals games where it matters! Instead, the Heat combined Big Three make like 300 million dollars yet can only tie the secondary 3 of the Spurs who make like 250 million dollars less but seem to shut up play and deliver with no guarantees.  It’s comical to see a superhero drink his own kool-aid and guarantee mythical wins and why not right?  The media has crowned Miami to win this title before the first thud of the basketball hit the court and they’ve been celebrating this phantom trophy all year, all along the way, cheapening the ride with hanging rim dunks, chest pumps and now sadly, with a homemade cape! The Heat have made everyone forget that records matter and distorted the myth, yet, quietly, between the hype and the “He was going to be on Sports Center one or way or another”-- when game four is done, the statistics should ultimately play out and the quiet champion should emerge and Sports Center will have to play it one way or another.  Sometimes instead of just saying you’re going to get the job done, just do what the Spurs have been doing all along, keep your head down, keep your mouth shut, play the game and get it done in the court no matter what the records say.