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Welcome students and colleagues, friends and family, if you have made it this far, I encourage you to stay a bit longer and read about some of my work. The writings reflect many of the thoughts that I carry with me throughout the course of a day, evening, and often times, the dreams that take hold of me while I sleep. The verses represent the inner voice in me that speaks of the past, the present, and the future. Writing is my ultimate form of expression that allows me to reflect, inspire, get well, and grow. The energy that feeds my work, I pull from themes that correspond to Mesoamerica, my ancestral place of birth, and the area I study. References to symbols of the past, deities, and natural phenomenon, dominate certain pieces, and blend with current verses of life, love, and death. I have never taken a writing class... the only "style" that exhibits my work is the one that I create from my imagination, heart, and dreams.

I’m an avid builder and horticulturalist, and so I spend a lot of my time building things and growing different types of herbs and plant food. I do not identify as an artist nor do I make art for aesthetic purposes; my work solely materializes a ritual-ceremonial or utilitarian function. The craft of working with wood I learned from my father, by watching him design and build homes throughout much of my adolescent youth. I also learned how to work with stone by watching my uncles construct brick and rock landscapes, in the wealthy neighborhoods were they labored during much of the 1980s, when construction was booming. My paternal grandpa Juan was also a craftsman, hence why all his sons became builders of some sort, and so building has always been an integral part of my family’s trade history. I learned about plant cultivation from my abuelita Mercedes on my paternal side and my abuelito Severo on my maternal side. Much of the landscaping strategies that I learned from my grandparents came with them from Mexico when they migrated to Alta California, in the early 1960s, along with my parents. A lot of the building and planting strategies that my family has implored have been in use for over 3,000 years. It is my purpose to revitalize and sustain these ancestral practices through ceremony, household building, and plant cultivation.

My fascination with building and growing food is not only familial, but also physical-skeletal (see my Physical Anthropology 101 blog), and because so, I have an admiration for the morphology of the human hand. The hand is unlike any part of the body, and because we use our hands every day, we literally take them for granted, sometimes failing to notice their full potential use. Our hands are our first weapons of choice in an attack, yet they are the first part of the body that we extend when helping or consoling someone. With our hands, we build shelter, writer letters, prepare food, and unknowingly, make love. Our hand-digit coordination is unique because it is precise, well adapted for creating, and for using and making tools. Hand-digit use coordination has been a part of our human evolutionary past since we inhabited arboreal environments, way before we developed bipedalism. When combined with tool use, the creative use of the hands has the capability of decolonizing our minds and bodies.

My inquiry into the relationship between hand-bone morphology usage and social behavior remains in the early stages. Nonetheless, some preliminary findings I modeled in a recent paper where I discuss the role of the hands, and early human tool making, in the creation of spatial wellness. The paper is published in Vol. 3 No. 4 of the International Journal of Development and Sustainability.


A ladder of faith can save

Everyone needs to believe in something… a cross, a crescent, a star, or a plumed serpent. Everyone must adore a God, a Buddha, an Allah, a Jehovah, or a Tlaloc… It truly does not matter which one…. This so happens to be the truth because when one hits bottom… only a ladder of faith can save them.

A Letter of Departure

Part I of II – A Letter of Departure

Dearly Beloved,

I no longer have the words in my heart, to explain to you how I feel. The words, those do not exist in me anymore, and it kills me to know that the two of you blossom under the different colors of October… And that is why I do not write, and I do not call.

I no longer have the strength in my body to withstand the presence of your eyes before me. I would crumble… and that is why I have no profile among the crowd, or the will to imagine you once again beside me. The space that I now share with someone else is only a mere adaptation of my life-long insecurities, and I suffer for it everyday.

You once told me that birds were meant to fly away, and fly away you shall. Fly away my bird, and be free... Be free and never forget about me… and I will never forget about you.

Cosas Mesoamericanas

Se que te gustan las calaveras… asi que te
mando una real… Pero también te mando una
ofrenda acuática de lo mas hermoso…
Conchas cortadas, caracoles, perlas, y incluso…
jade verde… Los símbolos de Quetzalcoatl.

La vida de Tlaloc es muy seria y ocupada, pero
nos quiere demasiado y a todo el mundo le de vida
con su agua variada…

Tlaloc - El labrador de la planeta azul…

An Angel's Chuck Taylor's

An Angel's Chuck Taylor's,
In Memory of My Father I Promise…

In memory of my father I promise that every stride I take shall be backed by two loving hearts, a cross, and a ribbon that binds them. One heart shall always be mine, the other one belongs to my brother whom I love with all my heart and soul… The ribbon shall always keep us together. The cross shall always be our 7th day faith… and life will grow all around it.

In memory of my father I promise to combat the treacheries of all evil. I shall surround myself with the strongest men… the strongest woman. In memory of my father I shall NEVER abandon the sick, not for any reason. The weak I shall care for and always reach out to… even if it weakens me. I will write one inspiring poem everyday, in the morning when I wake… for the rest of my life.

In memory of my father my friends and family shall become MD’s and PhD’s… Scientist’s from all over the world, fighting to make this world a better place, even if it kills them, even if it kills me. In memory of my father I shall sink my hypodermic fangs into the spine of every disease that attacks the young and the old… leukemia, diabetes, alcoholism, and cancer. My life’s work shall be religious and revolutionary… always anthropological.

In memory of my father I shall tell the love of my life everyday that I love her always. Her children I shall look into their eyes and tell them that I love them always… that their dreams I shall make real. I shall never leave her side because I know what it feels like to lose someone you love… a boy and a girl… to have to bury a dream and a life. In memory of my father my family shall always be connected by an unbreakable seal made of harmonic will, strategy, and intelligence – LOVE.

In memory of my father, every planet will be my guide, every star my light, the universe the joy of my imagination, every world-faith mine. EVERY stride I take shall be the one of a converse all star… like the steps once taken by an Angel… now in heaven and in space.

An Angel's Chuck Taylor's, in memory of my father I promise…

Algunas cosas si quedan

Algunas cosas si quedan olvidadas… selladas y sin hablar como un misterio para siempre. Yo solo querría darte el mundo. Y hoy comprendo que el mundo no es para ofrecer, si no que es para vivir… Juntos todos los días... a través de todos los años.

Part I of III
............

The fruits of an education I will savor many seasons from now. In the meantime, branches grow oak strong and the roots of trees have been deeply rooted. My joy now is the sunrise and the sunset… the news of an October wind and a November rain... New Year's thunder and lightning.

............

One’s happiness may be put on hold… but only if the working of a dream is in order. This is called sacrifice…

I caught an early taxi

I caught an early taxi,
“Buenos días,” le dije a un pasajero,
he ignored me.
“I'm in search of Quetzalcoatl today,”
I thought to myself.
I squeezed my fist and recalled beautiful
days… my love back home.

"A la plaza principal! Por favor,"
I said excitingly...

The day prior personal vestiges surfaced.
Una concha cortada,
navajas de obsidiana, y algodón de
muchos tonos...
Remnants of la cultura Tolteca.

I worked all day and while the air was hot
the ground was cool.
I didn’t break, only drinking agua,
eating mangos y cacahuates.

Instead, I let my mind wonder. Like
dreaming little dreams, asleep
but still awake…
speaking verses to myself.

At night, I went to a hotel with no name...
a different person...

There on a bed without a pillow and
dirty sheets,
todo cochino. I fell into
my dreams…
wishing for another day…

Praying for love.

The wind it never ends

The wind it never
ends. Predictable like the sunrise
and the sunset. Never lost.

Beautifully it howls… a
surrounding symphony of whistles
and pops…
Relentless in its pursuit.

An atmospheric force.

The wind is like time, it heals
and soothes… softly it whispers to the
friend and the foe.
Bringing peace from within
if you listen…

Not always seen, but surely
there… The wind.
Gracefully. Old and old,
but not gray... The wind it
does pray.

Miraculously it restores
all order of life. Like the waves that
crash on the sands, erasing the
old foot prints that
use to be...

Resurfacing a new start…

The wind is my friend… like
the long strands of hair that grow
above my head… past
my shoulders and into the sea.
Split and weather beaten
from the ends, but alive and
well from their root.

Wind, the story teller... giver
of life that reads
and writes.

All life is wind… it goes
and goes… Love in a constant
motion. It dies down
but then it grows-up
again, like the mass of the sun.

How beautiful is the
wind… predictable as life
and death its self…
Reliable and loyal like the sun.

The wind, my friend forever,
caretaker and free…
How I miss my friend, the
wind is not mad at me.

No me pidas el corazón

No me pidas el corazón
porqué no lo tengo, y el amor
no lo siento...

Extiende tus manos
para que conozcas el mundo,
acaricia el viento,
dame algo de tus sueños que
los quiero conocer...

Platica me de
tus heridas, lo mas profundo
de tu vida... El sol
que te pertenece, el agua
vendita de tu vida.

Pido de tu luz, de tus
cielos que me gusta volar.

Dame de tu viento

............

If I could walk into your dreams tonight
and stay, I would...
If I could hold his hand and take all the
pain away, I would...
If I could turn back the hands of time
and leave this place, I would...

but I'm only human...

............

Ripped from the womb of the earth,
angry and free... fire is born. Obsidian in one hand,
steel in the other. Sentenced to the cross with
embedded jade and plumage. Strong are my fist,
here my cries, sisters and brothers, feel the
scorch of my flame and the sounds of my wind. Fire
is born to rage in-between moons, devote
your life to me. Ripped from the womb of the earth,
angry and free, fire is born.

Sofía Mercedes Rodríguez

The gods were good to

The gods were good to me all summer.
This is my grace period, my time to reflect…
If I step outside I would be asking for
too much. I have much to ponder, so that’s how
I spend my days. If you take my hand I
could show you how to ease time, how to reclaim
the body. I don’t want you to erase the pain,
but to learn to live with it. That’s
transformation… spirituality
and longevity.

............

You allow me nothing to hold
on too… nothing to see or feel, nothing to
cherish after a sunrise, nothing to cherish
after a sunset. Nothing to prance around
when the trumpets blow. Nothing to
sing too… nothing to know…

How can you keep me away,
from what I desire the most. How can I
see the beauty in you, if you are not a part
of my seasons… How can I reflect on
your touch, if you are not
here to hold…

I can not miss what I have no
recollection of, or speak to what does not
speak back. I can not live in the shadows
of your love, if all I am is light. How
can I love, what I can
not be with…

What lies and deceives.
Weaknesses… are destroying our love.

............

Give all you have to become privileged,
be creative, be opportunistic…
Be strong, don’t complain… cry for only
a few… laugh and smile all day.

If you can read and write, teach! If you
like someone make them smile,
if someone hurts you, help them… Pump
your fist and scream, life is a fight,
but only with yourself. The older you become
the wiser you get… and the younger
you live.

Children make the world go round,
plan your life around them and only them.
Sing and dance, explore! Make your
midnight dreams a reality, if you miss someone
tell them, and never doubt yourself.

Pain and happiness are one, I know…
Cater to yourself, its okay to pretend and to be
silly but always be real. Admire the
heavens, absorb the elements, the wind!

Have not one, but many faiths…
This will bring you lots of friends. People
that you will need. Friends forever…

Give thanks for your life and also death,
both are love. Never abandon the
sick, hold the hand of the weak...
God will see this.

If you love someone… devote
your life to them.

Everyone has the right

Everyone has the right to be happy.
Everyone has the right to pursue their own
happiness, according to their own
convictions… And so when values collide,
you turn and walk away to pursue your
own dreams… before someone
gets harmed.

............

With regard to our work, we were
an enlightenment… but to one another,
we were a complete disappointment.

............

After all has been given,
after all has been lost… After all has
been mended, after all has been
forgiven… Time surpasses and space
opens… LOVE it glistens,
like a star.

Saying goodbye isn't

Saying goodbye isn’t easy. There’s a long road ahead of me.
I will have to adapt, I will have to be different,
or choose to be the same…

-Alejandro Garcia

Dear cancer, how can you live with your self?
Have you no shame, you've taken away some people
whom I love, and I miss them dearly. I’d like to think that
a cure is around the corner, but you’re such a sneaky
bastard that you'd find a way to hide from it only to pop
up and do what you do best. You may even take me,
but someday someone is going to find a cure
and avenge us all.

-Daniel Garcia

Show them you're facebook

Show them you’re facebook Angel.

Show them all of your colors… Allow
their jealous heart’s to see. Tears
coming down their face
and a rush of blood to the heart.

To late to apologize.

A profile from heaven and space…
a happy experience for everyone to
see, her pictures a private affair that
will always be...

All those wondering if you saw
them in heaven…? Would you call out
their name…?

Show the world both your cross
and the crystal skull… Your heart of
jade, and your jaguar of pearl
stone… It did not break.

Show them the redemption and
your resurrection to be… Paint your
pictures all over again and show them
what I could not tell her.

Show them you're facebook Angel,
everyone will know you now.

Oh mama, I'm really sorry

Oh mama, I’m really sorry
that we have to go from one extreme
to another… we did our best.
I know it’s sometimes hard to make
sense, but papa raised me not
to turn my back on anyone. I will never
stop extending my hand... My
knees will always bend for the mighty
one… Our efforts though
sometimes done in a shadow… even
condemned by a hand, the
drunken one. We did our best mama,
and I love you.

Oh mama, it’s correct what
an Angel’s music said that there are
more hearts in this word that
can’t be mended. And if God does exist
then why does all of this have to
happen, are we really being tested…?
I won’t lie to you my mama, I
asked God that he allow his rest to be
accepted, and well he just died
peacefully… Oh my god mama, god
bless our souls and pray that
God does exist and that we all get
accepted for what we do…

I hope we all die
peacefully... We did our best mama,
and I love you.

En las últimas semanas

En las últimas semanas, antes de que falleciera mi tío Juan de cáncer, llego su hermano Everado a su lado. Everado era el más chico de los diez hermanos y el más consentido de mi mama Mercedes. Me acuerdo vívidamente cuando Everado le acarició el rostro a su hermano mayor… “John,” le dijo, “John, I love you, and that is all you need to know my brother. I love you.” Juan con sus últimas fuerzas de vida le respondió con un movimiento de su mano y con una lagrima. En las próximas semanas falleció mi tío Juan… y no paso mucho tiempo cuando falleció Everado. Los dos hermanos habían hecho sus pazes… no se llevaron sus rencores a la tumba, ni a la vida eterna...

I have never written

I have never written a letter to
the God Christ... and for the first time in my
life, I need not one, but all of my faiths to
overcome my trials.

Dear God, I need you now more
then ever before… Although I live by way
of the feathered-serpent, your
cross I believe in it… and your love
I have always felt it.

God, thank you for allowing me
the life that some souls only dream of… I
know there are some things that
we just don’t realize until it is way too late,
but I promise you Lord that a greater
meaning in things I always look to make...
With you as my savior I would never
harbor feelings of resentment for this world.
Primarily one in which we are all just
passing through, I would never question
what you bestow on us.

My voice only answers to you,
my eyes only look for you… my ears mute
to the rhetoric… that is why
you allow me to do what I do. My apology
is sincere if at one point or another
I have lost my faith in people or in you…
Allow me to bask in what you
will grant us all… sooner or later…

I write to you not because
I hurt inside or because you have bestowed
your will on an Angel from my life. I
come to you because others look for you…
some question you… and others have
yet to realize you. I am overwhelmed Lord and
it becomes a tiresome task to show and
tell just exactly what you mean to us. I know
that my bones are made of jade, pearl,
and stone… they are strong. It is my heart
though that loses will and causes
my voice to flatter. My body now does
render at times.

I apologize…

I know that my only job is to
care for the soul, keep it safe and grant it
a new place. I’ll be honest with you
God… the task before me cuts at my very own
throat… and you know the
reasons why. I will overcome this I know, but
it is those that surround me that I fear
for the most. It saddens me deeply to see the
very men who taught me a sacred way
of living... lose their own
will to thrive.

God please don’t allow my
brothers to lose sight of your good… to
lose sight of the power that is your
holy spirit. The teachings found in your
bible, the meaning of your symbol the cross…
or the love that surrounds your temple. My
father is old and weak now, I know…
but he has not lost his faith. Please do not
allow my father to lose his faith…
his heart and soul.

Not my father... not anyone.

Angelina Rose you got

Angelina Rose you got your
mother's nose… I know… Show this
little world your big eyes my
baby. Show the world your big smile.
You are your sisters dreams and
my jealous heart all over again.

Angelina Rose show the
world what you would like to be.
You will always be loved.

Show them how to forgive and
then show them your dreams… You
are like the buzzing bees… Sweet
honey is what grows… and
you live in a garden of little dreams.

Angelina Rose the world has
yet to know… tell us what you would
like to be… My little baby
we can take you anywhere you
would like to be.

My jealous heart and her dreams,
Angelina Rose… all
over again.

Serpientes emplumadas

No sabias que las plumas
de mi cuerpo son agujas hipodérmicas…
Pobre de ti sentirás puñales venenosas
dieciocho años.

Quiero que sepas que mi derrota
me hace feliz… Y que no hay curación
pa' lo que siento por ti.

Así como tu me siento
inmortal. Asi como tu voy al castigar
el amor de un pasado,
vas a ver…

Serpientes emplumadas son
malas. Ilusiones que paralizan la vida.
Estoy enamorado con los
colmillos de mi boca.

Vas a sentir múltiple
mordeduras de dos por todo el cuerpo,
múltiple muertes vas a sentir
por cada amor.

Ni quien te salve… no conoces
el amor… tus huesos se van a podrí…
y vas a sufrir.

Veras mi fuerza en las repisas de
tus armarios… en los espejos de tus
baños… y de noche cuando
duermas en tu cama.

Se me salió el veneno… y
no tengo la culpa… Tu salida me crió
sentimientos nunca expresados

Serpientes emplumadas son malas.