Jose Padua: And When Lilacs Bloom There Will Be Time Enough for Both Anger and Light
After dinner one evening my daughter asks, “What if I grow up to have anger issues?” It feels like a summer night with the warm weather newly arrived and it’s … Continue reading
Jose Padua: The Monkey Time
It was a minor soul ballad, though not quite a ballad, or not a ballad at all, that brought Billy the Kid back to life in a dive bar downtown. … Continue reading
Jose Padua: A Book of Lines and Years
I give to you a book of days, you give to me a line of minutes. I give to you a story of weeks, you give to me a poem … Continue reading
Jose Padua: The Beauty of Revolution Is in the Blood That Flows from Heart to Brain to Finger
When my toddler son sprinkles salt on the kitchen floor then attempts to lick it up I immediately understand the experiment and the risk he knows he’s taking and the … Continue reading
Jose Padua: My Definition of a Boombastic Poetry Style
Going up to bed early on the night before his first day of school for the year our four year old son asks, “Is Daddy coming up too?” and my … Continue reading
Jose Padua: These Down and Out Days in the Land of Everything
You can tell me all you know about love and glue, how body parts fit and rub, wrap around each other like leafy vines, or of hurricane winds blowing out … Continue reading
Jose Padua: The Wayward Path to all the Mystic Revelations and Revolutions of the Soul
Walking down New Street in Staunton, Heather, Maggie, Julien, and I are in a line, and lurching toward us are three big guys in big coats, big baggy pants, snapback … Continue reading
Jose Padua: On the Half-life of Memory and All the Lives Lost in the Process
After you’ve invaded someone’s country enslaved its people tortured its citizens insulted and belittled its culture and beliefs it’s a little late in the proceedings and in the course of … Continue reading
Jose Padua: A Better Tomorrow
My Dad was the caretaker of the Philippine ambassador’s residence for several decades but the day when he seemed to take the most pride and joy in his job was … Continue reading
Jose Padua: The Real Deal
Sometimes when I wake up to a foggy morning in our small town I remember that episode of The Outer Limits where a man who drinks liquor in the morning … Continue reading
Jose Padua: I Feel for You
The sound kept me warm those winter evenings walking down Broadway after work, when I had work, with work and wind stinging my face. Chaka Khan singing Prince, singing this … Continue reading
Jose Padua: Thank You for the Stars and All the Things That Slowly Drift Away in the Distance
When I gave the panhandler some spare change he looked at me and said Thank You then he looked at the person next to me and said Thank You again. … Continue reading
Jose Padua: My Filipino-American Breakfast
My Filipino-American breakfast of the 60s was the local Briggs brand pork sausage patties, sunny-side up eggs, and rice, with the runny yolks broken over the rice, and the rice … Continue reading
Jose Padua: Notes for the Coming Revolution
If I were better at facilitating meetings I might have something resembling a career by now. If I could pursue a lifestyle instead of just being alive, my coworkers might … Continue reading
