Rocky Point

[tonyv]

 

That was the decade when we had it all

loving life

like muchachas at quinceañeras

------------------------------------------              dreaming
of Nueva Casas Grandes

 

It was all Corvettes and discotheques

until the Alhambra became a motel

 

We didn't know you were in jail then

had never even heard of cancer or Somalia

 

We had the beach

and it was one long summer in the sun

________________________________________________

Rocky Point Amusement Park

Quinceanera

Nueva Casas Grandes literally translated, Casas Grandes means "huge houses"
or "mansions" and nueva means "new"
(not sure whether there are really any new mansions there).

[tonyv]

Feeling a bit nostalgic so I'm recycling this old one. I had included it in my prose piece "We Were Rockers," and now I'll add it to the poetry forum.

Tony

[Tinker]

Wow Tony,  You need to write more of these.  Very different from you usual metered work.   I thoroughly enjoyed this. 

I think you should tighten up the lines.  You probably typed this from you Blackberry.  It looks kind of spread out on the page.   

You surprised me with the reference to the quince. I don't think of a large Mexican population in New England.  Quinces are alive and well here and now in California.  Trinity was one of the maidens (like a bride's maid) in one of her girlfriend's quince a little over a year ago.  Families treat them bigger than weddings.  I've been to a couple, super fun, very old family, Mexican, tradition.

~~Tink

[badger11]

... A Farewell to Kings was my first album (well cassette. I didn't have a record player). There was a narrative in the prose - the guitar playing, the plateau reached - that connected.

 

Quote

It was all Corvettes and discotheques

until the Alhambra became a motel

Those were my fav lines in the poem.

best

Phil

 

[tonyv]

Thank you, Judi.

5 hours ago, Tinker said:

... You need to write more of these.  Very different from you usual metered work ...

This is pretty old. I don't know exactly how old, but it's been in the Prose forum (part of a prose piece) since we migrated the site back in '09

5 hours ago, Tinker said:

I think you should tighten up the lines.  You probably typed this from you Blackberry.  It looks kind of spread out on the page.

I did quickly consider single spacing the lines within the stanzas, but opted for the spaced out look. I'll take another look at it.

5 hours ago, Tinker said:

You surprised me with the reference to the quince. I don't think of a large Mexican population in New England.  Quinces are alive and well here and now in California.  Trinity was one of the maidens (like a bride's maid) in one of her girlfriend's quince a little over a year ago.  Families treat them bigger than weddings.  I've been to a couple, super fun, very old family, Mexican, tradition.

I can't remember exactly how I learned of this. I guess it's kind of like the equivalent of the American "sweet 16" custom. I also didn't realize it was strictly Mexican; I figured it was of Mexican and other Central and South American origin. As far as I know, we don't have a large Mexican population here, but in my city we have a sizable Colombian population. There are others in New England, too, like Brazilians, Venezuelans, Cape Verdeans, etc.

Tony

[Tinker]

Well you need to go back to your roots and write more of this kind of thing.  It touches the reader.   

Maybe the quince is generically Hispanic, but the one's I have been too were very Mexican with Mariachi Bands, a mass with liturgical ceremony where the family,(especially Dad) present their daughter as a young woman,  typical yummy Mexican food and big families all celebrating.   After Andrea had her quince, Trinity was gung ho to have a Sweet Sixteen with all of the hoopla.   She did have a Sweet 16 but it was much more casual and understated. But she did have nachos and pizza and a DJ.   But no fancy dresses or choreographed dance performances.   Lots of kids dancing though.

~~Judi

[tonyv]

10 minutes ago, Tinker said:

... Trinity was gung ho to have a Sweet Sixteen with all of the hoopla.   She did have a Sweet 16 but it was much more casual and understated. But she did have nachos and pizza and a DJ.   But no fancy dresses or choreographed dance performances.   Lots of kids dancing though ...

LOL Judi, that's an event that conceivably could have set you back somewhere in the tens of thousands. There are certain expectations of grandparents ...

Tony

[tonyv]

Thank you, Phil.

2 hours ago, badger11 said:

... A Farewell to Kings was my first album (well cassette. I didn't have a record player). There was a narrative in the prose - the guitar playing, the plateau reached - that connected.

I, too, had "A Farewell to Kings" ... the cassette, of course! My first meaningful exposure to Coleridge had to be Rush's "Xanadu." Of course, that was followed up by Iron Maiden's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner."

2 hours ago, badger11 said:

Quote

It was all Corvettes and discotheques

until the Alhambra became a motel

Those were my fav lines in the poem.

I like those, too.

Tony

[Tinker]

Yes grandma kicked in. But it was only a few hundred dollars.  We had it in their back yard, no hall rental, the DJ was a friend of Scott's and gave him a deal,  we had a candy bar which was very pretty with a couple of hundred dollars of candies displayed like a rainbow, bought 15 $5.00 pizzas,  let the kids make their own nachos, we provided the melted cheese, jalepenos, and chips and the kids scarfed them down.  I'm sure the quince where she was a participant was in the thousands.  

~~Judi