Tucson, San Antonio, and New Orleans — Photo-Artistry by kenne
"And hear the sounds he knew of yore, Old shufflings on the sanded floor, Old knuckles tapping at the door? "Yet still before him as he flies One pallid form shall ever rise, And, bodying forth in glassy eyes "The vision of a vanished good, Low peering through the tangled wood, Shall freeze the current of his blood."
-- from The Three Voices by lewis Carroll
Joy with Grandchild Audry and James In San Antonio, April 2009 — Image by kenne
In the previous posting “Ready To Start Going Places” I used an image of the
San Antonio River Walk which brought to mind a video I produced of our spring vacation in April 2009.
— kenne
San Antonio River Walk — Image by kenne
As people in retirement, age, and cancer limit the risks we can take, which limits when
we can start traveling again. Before the pandemic, we were planning on visiting family
in Virginia and New Hampshire this month. We also hope to be able to attend Jerri and Justin’s
wedding in early August in Austin — we will see. Yes, we are ready to begin traveling,
but HOVID-19 might have another idea.
— kenne
Yellow Crowned Night Herons, San Antonio River Walk — Image by kenne
— Pablo Valle
Cutleaf Evening Primrose — Image by kenne
Full
by Wendy Barker
Light splotches on the bed,
mesmerizing the morning.
Why rise from this dazzle?
But outside the kitchen door,
the first time in years, flickering
in the pittosporum’s froth, a dozen
dozen Monarch butterflies ignite
the green, their white freckled patches
shifting, rapid as a blink, and gone.
Not so the evening primroses
that open as the light is leaving
and remains even as the moon lifts
from the trees, even as you sit
steady above your book, until
you rise, and bring me your hands.
(Windy Barker is a poet and critic, and teaches literature at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Windy has been involved in several “Writer’s In Performance” events over the years.)
Carmen Tafolla — Images by kenne
It was a little over six years ago that I first met Carmen Tafolla. She was the March 2007, guest reader at Montgomery College’s (now Lone Star College – Montgomery) “Writer’s In Performance” series. I was impressed!
Carmen, a native of the West-Side barrios of San Antonio, Texas is an excellent writer, but first and foremost a storyteller. Often her readings include taking on the persona of the person in the poem, as shown in two of the photos in the above collage (older women and a child). Carmen is very inspirational — she touches your heart.
As a storyteller, Carmen follows the instruction from a historian, which she writes about in the poem, “The Storykeeper:”
Ask the whispers, she whispers,
breathed out in unguarded moments,
when the soul is too worn down to hurt more,
in the numbness of the night,
when the father wrestles with the unwritten history,
pleading to save it, speak it, bury it,
staring at the pluma across the room,
avoiding the paper.
from the poem “The Storykeeper” in the book of poems, Sonnets and Salsa
Even though I like to think I’m relatively up to date with the southwest literary world, I was surprised to learn yesterday that last March 2012, San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro appointed Carmen Tafolla as the inaugural poet laureate — an honor well deserved.
The University of Arizona houses one of the best-known centers of poetry, “Poetry Center,” in the country; yet after doing a site search, I learned that Carmen Tafolla has never read there, which I difficult hard to believe — wondering out loud (in print), WHY! The Poetry Center should invite this unique Southwestern voice to read in Tucson.
We do know that many in Tucson are aware of Carmen Tafolla, since one of her books, “Curandera” was banned  Tucson Unified School District’s unprecedented censorship and massive removal of Latino and Mexican American literature and texts from its classroom. As a result, and in honor of the book’s 30th anniversary, Wings Press reissued a special “Banned in Arizona!” edition, of “Curandera.”
kenne
(The title of this posting, “HealthCare” — ” But, No One Cares” is a line from Carmen Tafolla’s poem, “HealthCare” the sign says.)
This past week we visited family in San Antonio and Houston, stopping in Ft. Stockton over night before arriving in San Antonio.
Grandson, Nicholas, who will be seven September 13th.
Nicholas, Mom (Katie) and three-plus month old Kenne Jaxson.
Mom with Kenne Jaxson (Jax)
Nicholas — Images by kenne
“Hope Coming To Texas” — Image by kenne from Kate’s iPhone
Image by Katie Turner Bailey
On April 24th I posted an entry on our family trip to San Antonio with a link to photos. I have now completed a video on the trip. The video is in HD, so you may want to click on HD after you start the video. Enjoy!
kenne
Audrey, Joy and James
Some of the Family Meets In San Antonio
Last year, many of us went to Virginia to visit April, Audrey, and Jason, so this year it was their turn to come to Texas.
However, they chose to meet us in San Antonio rather than come to Houston. Since some of the Morris family lives in the San Antonio area, most of us in Houston were able to go to San Antonio.
As you will see from the photos (video to come later), the new babies got all the attention; Audrey and James —
they are so cute.
Viva Fiesta!
We recently spent time in San Antonio with some of the family.
This is the first of three posting: Viva Fiesta, Family & Tea Party.
There will also be some video links to be posted at a later date.
kenne
Becoming is Superior to Being 
“Trust binds the Nation Together;” Thrift Drives the Nation Tomorrow” —
two banking principles misused and exploited.
— kenne
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