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.

Original Poem: A response to Mr. Floyd, "Pounding these Emotional Walls"

     Once again, I pulled another poem from my vault, it focuses on a response to Pink Floyd's emotional rocker, "Hey You".  Since I was a kid, I've been a huge fan of Pink Floyd, as this band was passed down from my older brother Juan, who's always had great taste in music, especially rock. From an early age, He introduced me to Queen, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Bad Company, UFO and of course, Rush! This particular Pink Floyd song, has always clung to my heart, because it asks more questions than supplies answers and it asks us to examine ourselves. The lyrics expose our limitations as humans and the ways we harm ourselves and society. "Pounding these Emotional Walls", focuses on the questions asked in the song and tries to supply some answers, 30 or so years later, in my understanding of my world. Hope you enjoy this piece, please comment!- Rafael Andrade Garza, 2013 (c).

Pounding these Emotional Walls


Hello Mr. Floyd, I felt the cold
Living lonely, hearts fold
Will you echo again?
Hey you, I'm tapping these walls
With sticky situations and numb expressions
I felt the cold
Hey there, there's only diminishing light out here
And only wet candle wicks inside

Hello there, out here on my own
I'm fully clothed but my heart is exposed
I reach for you
Hey there, I cup my hand to sound
It's just that there's no cell phone around
I reach for you
But, these stones are more than two can carry
Without a destination for home, my heart is wary

But we're living in reality
And no visible walls in wi-fi,
As you can see,
No matter how hard we try
We can never escape
Our thinly disguised government veils

Hey there, I'm at your block
Resisting to what I'm told
What can I do from here?
Between accepted curtains of separations
And these so-called right conservative reparations
Hey you, it seems like there's no hope from here
Hearts fall like walls in a crumbling emotional veneer

(power…twin towers)
(bricks…bones)
 hearts alone

 © Rafael Andrade Garza, Oct. 13, 2006.

photo courtesy of www.tumblr.com

Sports: NBA WCF 2013 Recap & Spurs answer their critics on the court

*Used with recognition to google images*

 

“Spurs taking the road less traveled”

By Rey Andrade-Garza

May 30, 2013

San Antonio, TX

          First, I promise I won’t gloat or say I told you so to the hordes and masses of Spurs haters on this planet that picked the Grizzlies to win. Yes, I laid out every reason in my preview blog to this series as to why the Spurs were more than ready for the challenge from a mediocre team, yeah I said it. Yes, a mediocre team that jumped on a dead horse OKC team hobbled and were one three pointer away from not even being in the WCF’s. OKC had no way of putting up a fight much less a series worth watching. As the Spurs swept the Lakers, defeated the media darlings from Golden State and quickly dispatched the Grizzlies so unceremoniously and so matter of fact. The NBA analysts and critics scrambled for reasons why this team was still relevant and how on earth did they make it to NBA Finals six years removed from their last trip. The answers they gave were more predictable than the Spurs.  For all the accolades and the playoff runs the answers were on short supply and the responses were all too easy to say but they weren’t.  I will address the well documented “haterization” of the Spurs but also the irony of the praises the media has of this team.  This won’t be some metaphorical trip or some lame attempt at poetically pinning this team’s journey to this year’s NBA Finals as some line off a Robert Frost poem.  What I will do instead is I will finally put some perspective to this run, give reasons why the Spurs are still capable of winning this title and possibly next year’s and how they beat the Pacers or the Heat without any real effort.

Facing Indiana

The hardest part of this year’s playoff run for the Spurs is done. Bold, but true.  The Spurs are so focused that I don’t see any scenario where this team squanders this opportunity.  Duncan, Parker and Ginobili have all said as much.  It has not been lost on them nor has anyone forgotten to remind them it’s been 6 long years since they were in the Finals.  This team has been in the hunt for many more titles and probably would have been on their 7^th title run this year if not for that unbelievable Derek Fisher 3 pointer, here in SA in ‘04 or the debacle against the Mavs in ’06.  That Fisher 3 is humanly impossible to do.  After the series, I remember my brother tried to duplicate it. First by trying to make the three and next by passing and tipping it in as bank shot or layup and I’m no pro but we timed it and never got faster than 0.7. I liken that three like the JFK conspiracy for Spurs fans, who know we got robbed from being back to back champions that year.  Last year, the Spurs ran out of gas and peaked at the wrong time against OKC.  The Spurs are healthier and peaking at the right time and as a fan I know the Big Three will have this chance and only this last chance together. It’s hard to say as a fan but with Ginobili being a free agent this summer who knows what will happen.  In fact, with Ginobili there are 7 Spurs as free agents this summer.  17 million in cap room will only go so far so the Spurs will have to prioritize and this is my first reason why the Spurs, with this group wins the title against the Pacers or Heat.  The Pacers haven’t been to the Finals to the Finals since 2000 and while this team should been called the "Indiana Trees" with Hibbert, West, Paul George & ½ of the Hansbrough they lack the discipline, experience and coaching necessary to beat the Spurs.  They are one dimensional team that plays pick and rolls to get points with George Hill and Paul George but outside of that the points are few and far between. Roy Hibbert is no push-over but if he has to battle Duncan and Tiago Splitter on both sides of the court he will be ineffective.  He can’t pass like Duncan or Tiago and he will have to step outside the paint to cover Duncan’s jumpers and with a wide open lane Tony Parker will own.  Frank Vogel is a fine coach but anything you want to know about his expertise he showed by not having Hibbert on the last two plays Lebron drove to the basket in game 2 of the ECF and  that demoralized the Pacers I don’t care what anyone says they have had to play catch up ever since. I agree with Skip Bayless that the Lebron handshake might as well been the kiss of death.

Facing Miami

          Miami is the reigning champ and no disrespect but I don’t think they are as hungry for the title this year.  They are perfectly content living the glory and praises they got every game they won in the regular season and playoffs.  They are crowned every win they get and that makes their Final run if they get there which I suspect will happen for ratings and ratings only, less meaningful for them. The Spurs are considered a very poor ratings draw being ranked 37^th, which I know for fact is not true at all.  I teach a class on Communication Technology and Nielsen ratings are based on a statistical formula of only 4,000 homes nationwide, which in no way documents people viewing habits in bars, homes, viewing parties, etc. that have no set top boxes. It’s a farce but even with San Antonio being the 7^th largest city we are lumped with the Charlotte Bobcats of the world with almost 2million people living here in the metro area. Who cares, this is all a tangent to prove that whatever the truth is the truth that matters is that watching game 5 of the Pacers vs. Heat point to the Heat being the draw that David Stern wants.  They showed the replay of Nazr Mohammed pushing LeBron James and getting ejected but Birdman shoves poor who cares its Tyler Hansbrough, who by the way didn’t even retaliate and receives no ejection? To add insult to injury it wasn’t even a flagrant two call. It should have been by every definition of that rule.  I can’t argue with Skip Bayless on the notion that he made two valid points why the Spurs will win against Miami.  The Heat is the 2^nd oldest team and the Spurs are the 7^th oldest team in the NBA.  Stephen A. Smith alleges that’s deceptive because the starting Five for the Spurs are older than the Heat starting five and that is true but the Spurs bench is loaded with young talent that overmatch the old Heat bench at every position.  Plus, as Skip put it, Wade maybe 31 but his knee is 44. It’s funny to say but for once the Spurs are faster, younger and deeper than the Heat.  They also are on a roll and the Heat well, not so much.  The Spurs have been resting and the Heat has been gathering more miles and more bruises.  Let’s not even compare coaches because Eric Spoelstra can coach 10 more years and never be Coach Popovich.  Sorry to be so blunt and mean but it’s true. He isn’t in the same league even though they will share the same court.  The Heat are a feisty group and I can see them getting rattled by calls not going their way and even in fighting, panicking and resorting to scrappy dirty plays that will not rattle the Spurs in any way, shape or form.  Last and not least, Tony Parker is the MVP of the playoffs and right now; no one can stand in front of him so they might as well enjoy the show.

“Haterization” vs. “History”

          Haterization is the sincerest form of jealousy. I hear it here in San Antonio and it makes me sick because I feel that if this team was in LA, Miami, Boston or Chicago they would be household names, women would be calling their kids Tiago, Kwahi, Dajuan in tribute to lesser known hometown heroes and sneaker commercials would be the norm and statutes erected in their honor. As stereotypical as these words sound it’s true. They would be legendary and history would forever mark their accolades with those of the great.  Small problem, they are in San Antonio so it should matter less? Well, history has proven that even with 16 playoff runs, 37 playoff experiences, 4 titles and countless seasons of 50 wins or more the Spurs are the New York Yankees of the NBA.  People expect them to win and compete every year and they are hated for it but one small difference they aren’t in New York. Can you imagine anyone talking crap about this team in a high profile market like those teams I just mentioned? There would be haters but they would be drowned by far more love than hate for sure.  As a sports fan, or even a true basketball fan what more could you want from a franchise? All they do is win and even as the cliché goes everyone loves a winner, why in this case is it not true? You can point to all the stupid reasons the analysts give but even the flipside of this equation is not true either.  You can say well, the Spurs are an “under –the-radar” or underdog team but every year fans in droves flock in support of them, which ironically enough the Spurs faced such a team in Golden State this year.  Well, they aren’t sexy enough, they don’t pound their chest or celebrate the moment with handshakes to opponents or maybe, they are arrogant and unapproachable and like some have said they don’t welcome the limelight.  Who cares? Rush was a band that never cared for the limelight but their millions of rabid fans got them into the rock-n-roll hall of fame this year.  Barry Sanders was a quiet warrior in the Detroit Lions backfield but when he played on Sundays his phenomenal runs were unforgettable that even to this day fans pay tribute to him as they did by putting him on the cover of Madden 25^th Anniversary Edition game.  So why aren’t the San Antonio Spurs hailed in like manner at the very least? LeBron James is as loved as he is hated yet the love is there for him and even though I don’t sing his praises enough people do for good reason, he is a champion and whether his team was bought instead of built as the Pacer signs say in this series so too are the Spurs.  They scout their talent, draft it and people say the Spurs were lucky but they wouldn’t have to be if they were respected like the Lakers or Celtics and if players were smart they would choose the title runs instead of the paycheck runs but the allure is in getting the fame on a daily basis the likes that the Heat enjoy but that the Spurs deserve and never get.  As unfair as it is and while I relish the idea of the Spurs getting their due, somehow, I think the would mean little to me if everyone loved them because than I feel it would feel less special and as I fight to say how good they are there is satisfaction that they do there really great work fighting year after year on the court for all the blind bats to see.