In June I attended my 50th reunion at Mission High School in Mission, Texas. I go to all of our reunions, typically having the longest trip to get their from the Northeast. In 1996 I got a ceramic angel to protect me on my travels from New York and, now, Boston to Miller International Airport in McAllen.
I wrote this piece for the monthly poetry open-mic at Whitelam Books in Reading, MA, where I now live. Haikus give me a framework for writing poetry, otherwise everything I write would sound like a combination of Led Zeppelin lyrics and Edgar Allan Poe's works.
Fifty years out
Texas reunion beckons
Back to MHS
Mission High School
Maroon and white, Eagles fly high
I couldn’t wait to leave
But loyal alum
always return to my roots
Long flight to McAllen
Guarded by the
ceramic angels a gift
for the distant traveler
in 1996
My first impression
Blazing hot, fierce Gulf Coast winds
Turn on the AC!
Settle at the hotel
on Shary Road, fruit groves gone
Strip centers sprawl
Friends gather at night
Half century to cover
Tito’s Vodka helps
Tour ranch with pal
Edward, expert guide to raw
land’s unmarked roads
History, critters,
cactus, windmills, barbed wire, ponds
“This land can kill you”
Unforgiving land
“Don’t get lost, no cell service here,”
ruts dug by stagecoach wheels
Friday 70s party
I wear a “Ford ‘76” shirt
Cowboy hats, hippie chicks
Old and new faces
Chats settle into patterns.
Grandkids, work, sore backs
Playing tourist at
Butterfly Center, a treat.
Drive past border wall
Historical museum
Tour with David and Lois
Land sales, orchards, roads
Photo with my Mom
1930, school band
Playing saxophone
Warriors, workers
Mexican revolution
Rio Grande and railroad tracks, dividers
Drive to St. Peter’s Novitiate
Built in 1912, burned 2009
Wreckage fenced off and haunted
Saturday night at last!
Event center, dinner dance
Phone cameras flashing.
Hilda’s video series and
Forever flowers
Honor the departed
Too many, too many.
Lena, Laura, Letty,
Olalla, Joe, Nacho
Tavo, Richard
A rose for each of dozens
Deacon Javier Garcia’s benediction
Joe Valadez’s Tejano
crowd pleasing
song “Te Lo Juro”
My champagne toast
in commemoration
Salud, compadres
Kudos to the organizers
Dalia, Sylvia, Frances, Nora,
Genie, Janet, Hilda
Flawless
Bittersweet moment
Sunday morning Taco Ole
Last chance for last thoughts
So we said it; surprises
Final photos
Next journey, McAllen to Dallas to Boston
Home to Reading
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| An angel for the distant traveler, from 1996. |
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