Comments:
Life begins at 40 (poem)
Our gym with basketball
backboards and hoops skyward
up and resting, and below the scoreboard
we assembled; gathered for goodbye
draped in gray gowns the floor
packed with our parents, friends, lovers
many speaking in neat rows of folded chairs
like us anxious for the past to end and the future begin
an imaginary wind and vortex
formed outside awaiting
the exit of this crowd
to take us to lands known and distant
after all the speeches we embraced
hug and took photos betwixt the tennis
court, swimming pool and that gym
now free to dream and experiment,
a globe of a world awaited these
sons and daughters of Canal laborers
descendants of Canal builders
the nervous laughter masking the uncertainty
our political surroundings swiftly ending
home in a few years then decades
would belong to other cultures
this segregated enclave that gave
so many moments of insulated
safety and isolated happiness
Paraiso, Gamboa, Pedro Miguel
the seed of our self to be transformed
many fought and defended the colossus
in uniforms emblazoned with medals
while others left leaving destiny to chance
many went and came back while others
stayed in this cradle of creeds placed
decades before to build a world wonder
our songs, anthems, poems, varied
yet united
