The slight Mexican Girl

I'm a microscopic Mexican Girl

I'm a microscopic Mexican girl
Crawling straight through the scrub in the desert
Escaping from government branch injustice
The very injustice she looks for every day
When she opens her door as a Mexican child
she saw it coming that bad day, una dia mal!
each day can be a bad day in Texas
con los gringos con corazones frios
with the white men with frigid hearts
for microscopic girls who have no money, no pretty dresses,
no shoes at all, no milk no morning meal
it leaves a hole
in the heart in the morning

Japanese School Girls

in front of her Texas house the sun doesn't shine
and her father has no hope
he doesn't have a newspaper every day like the white man
he cannot read it anyway as he doesn't speak English
how can he find a job?
His smart microscopic girl cannot read for him
in English and Spanish en ingles y espanol
as she hasn't started school yet

en in el the morning manana en frente de su casa house
en Texas en Tejas
la sol no brilla
the sun doesn't shine
y su padre no tiene esperanza
her father doesn't have hope
no tienen el periodico cada dia como los blancos
he doesn't have a newspaper each day like the white man
no puede leer en ingles tambien como los otros hombres
he can't read in English either like the other men
?como trabajo el?
How can he go to work?
la nina no puede leerlo por el, porque
his daughter can't read it for him because
no esta en la escuela por/para las lecciones
en la lengua de los estados de America

A screaming male voice emerges
from an Army helicopter over my head
it is a father yelling "I Am Your Father!!"
she recognizes the voice but does not
know the man screaming at her
and hides added behind a dry Texas
tumbleweed with sharp stickers
Pulling her too-small dress down to cover up
her own privacy privacia
she knows her privacy is her own
she thinks what she is too terrified to say--

La Tengo!! Quiero mi cuerpo que es celeste. Yo soy confidente que Tengo mas que el gringo hombre, porque mi cuerpo y alma es mia el todo es mio!) La Tengo!!
Es Mia mio
it's mine, estupido stupid!!

As she crawls straight through the dirt she looks in terror
through the infrared search light pulsing
and spreading colse to her child's body
like red liquid liquida
like a wide mantle of fuschia fear
in the dark desert night
overtaking the small girl in the fast redness
encompassing her optic reality overtaking her
she lifts up her hands in a fervent child's prayer
to the Virgin mum Mary Guadalupe
her patron saint and friend
on many desert dog day nights
in past sufferings suferados suferidos sufridos
sufridandosos como el pasado
pasados posasa posadas

The superior man in the sky continues
To search the desert floor once her womb
exposing the small shivering child
now a small reptile a spotted lizard blending in
and crawling away
to destiny she worries this must be destiny
but it wasn't destiny it was just solamente the confrontation
the terrible conference with the white man el confrontacion con el gringo
with the white man
in the helicopter
that's all it was
era todo fue todo

el gringo menaced
amenazio fue amenazando era amenazando
the gringo menaced
in the dark satanic night
It was a groping ignorance a broad perception
that forced her
to be a maid in her worst memories
of tortilla degradation as a young (un joven una jovena)
American girl with no stereotypes allowed
because it's against the law she knows it was
against the law to call her a maid
due to her race and conjecture not a brown raisin
she is never Nunca a raisin at all
The Man El Hombre continues torturing
Continua Torturando A Ella her with his authority....

He ruins her life from the sky
and she knows it on the dirt

Su Autoridad no es bueno isn't good
even though it is es verdad ahora es
que ella no es solamente una domestica Solamente!

no es Solamente!
Solamente!!! una domestica
no es una domestica todo.

Running every day to Juarez Mexico
to get away from that big lie that cold fear that big lie
la mentira no es la razon no es la verdadero!!no es verdad!!
es un mentira it's a lie
about her the microscopic Mexican girl
la nina la estrellita bonita
succumbs, fainting, but people pick her up
Many hands lift her up from the ground where she had fainted in a quaking terror causing her young heart
to stop with a loss of blood sugar from fear
depleting the microscopic girl
spiked it spike spike spiked

her heart siezes from terror
feeling like a raw crucifixion even though
she was so young and had not
breathed her last breath yet
feeling the prematurely stolen breath suck out of her mouth, the microscopic Mexican Queztochoatl child is also a serpent king.

The microscopic girl dies
she was a king inside herself (no less than a king ) but more than a queen. She is
a lizard not a maid and she sometimes
cleans hotel rooms for food - not a burrito
but a prayer with daily hope and foresight now as a small Hispanic child in the U.S.

The crowd carries her over the border
where the Rio Grande is small
and contrite in the saguaro desert night
she is reborn as a microscopic Mexican girl no one loves
but the big man in the sky wants
the native Indian girl she is he wants her pura
Pura pura pura graca graca grace
her brown-skinned charm and sweet microscopic legs
he wants to restrain her foot
tie it up just like all the rest
she thinks quietly to herself and the people
in the dark satanic night join in her prayers

That is what he wants! that is what he wants!
That is what the superior man wants
Her booty
The rich man wants her booty
The microscopic Mexican girl's beauty

Is he the devil they ask her?
I said no he is not the devil
but he is no friend of mine
he is a man (un hombre) who does not want me
to be free except every now and then
I breathe now but I will not breathe later
with every breath I take I look ahead in fear!con miedo!

He wants to jail me between his legs again
so I can never leave never leave leave leave
the superior white man who is black inside
not like a black man but a distinct kind of black
but I am finally a beautiful woman now
although the child
is still a child la nina es una nina todavia
constantly todo el tiempo una cara nina
I all the time knew he would come to hurt me
one day soon and I waited until this day

Part of his arm is just I had been told
but the rest is dark and ugly they said it again to me
his teeth are black and angry
he is the occult the deep night he is Satan
they will help me, they said in the constituent assembly
if he approaches you in the dark lonely night
remember he is the Dark Night Satanic
not the Star of David or our Christmas Star
the small crowd warned the microscopic Mexican girl
about the looming helicopter in the sky
that had just menaced her

He will find you microscopic pinanita! No lo quiero!
I'm not a pinata, and he is not the occult!!
the microscopic Mexican girl said! A visitor spoke -remember
the algorithm for the matrix
the red bandwidth
the buxom shortwave the Grundig-
the minimization realization of metaphors
Will recognize the oppressed child
it will be awhile before we can risk
the dark curtain again but we will help you-

Lining her water cups up like a gambler
on the southwestern bus depot counter
she felt anger just mental about the theft
the microscopic Mexican girl yells up to the bitter sky man
she yells to the doomsday pilot over her head
"Get A good Life!!
!Tenga Un Vida Mas Buena!"
the violent flyer flew away with disappearing infrared
her product stolen
his waning light trailing behind him
the desert looked general once more - like God
intended it to look - because he is gone
the crowd of people danced a jubilant
dance un jubilante baile celebrando la victori
a de la nina mexicana mixteca

her heart suddenly stopped pounding
stopped racing dangerously fast and became calm again
she realized she was safe again
Lifting her and breathing on her mouth, the people
regained her composure lifting her up to the
blue blue black night comforting sky
so she could come to be the leader she nothing else but is
she practically lost her place in the hierarchy
through a premature prematura death la muerte
but the people embraced the microscopic Mexican girl
who is not ever a maid not a slave
but a king no less
y more than a queen
and held her up to the night sky cherished

While the superior man didn't see the beauty
of her heritage, the microscopic Mexican girl
doesn't care anymore about him
and laughs - ella sonrie, saying
Forget The Man, The Gringo!!
!Forget Him!
!Hasta Luego You Loser!!
!Hasta Pronto!
!!Get A Life!!
!!Vaya Con Dios!!
as the helicopter recedes into the distant stars

The microscopic Mexican girl walks away in her popular shoes
(en sus zapatos favoritos)
relieved she is still alive
walking toward her destined destina destiny
to eat four appetizing tacos
para comer quatro tacos deliciosas
because she was not ever once a maid
in her life
in the rich man's room or his bed or bathroom
of the disgraced harem
no one is a domestic there are not words
for her fear in the night
!no more!! no more!! no more!
nunca mas! Nunca mas! Nunca mas!

No more! porque la hija mexicana no es
!!!Una Domestica!!!
She is a microscopic star a yellow sun with drive and power

Es Un Estrellita Un Sol Amarilla Con Fuerza
Una Prayer Una Beauty

Es Una Belleza Del Rezo,
Cada Dia Todos Las Dias

Almost the End - (Casi El Fin):

when it rains it pours,
las desgracias nunca vienen solas.

The microscopic Mexican girl has hope and courage for the difficult decade she will have. She plans to grow up and fight racial patrimony discrimination, as well as the men who fly helicopters in the desert sky over her head. Her conscience will continue to lead her to victory.

La Lucha Continua!! The Struggle Continues!!
!!La Lucha Continua!!...

© 2009 Patricia McGurk Martin

The slight Mexican Girl

slight Johnny is Getting Old!

In the beginning before my birth

Wilburn "Tennessee" Ryder was born in a mining camp near Copper Hill, Tennessee, November 19, 1906, the oldest of nine siblings. His father worked in the copper mines at Copperhill Tennessee. He helped his mother raise the other siblings while his father worked. As time went on and getting a job was hard to find during the depression Wilburn jumped on freight cars to get from place to find what ever work he could. He ended up in Jefferson City Tennessee and worked at the Zinc Mines. While there he met Mary Margaret Jones. Mary was going to college at the time and her father was a school teacher. Mary's mother took care of the home on George street where the Jones lived after selling the farm and enchanting to town.

Japanese School Girls

Wilburn and Mary dated for a time and as time went on they fell in love. Wilburn gave Mary an engagement ring and soon after they decided to get married. Wilburn found a great job, paying more in Morristown so they moved. Wilburn sold Singer Sewing Machines and was quite good at it. He also sold pianos to help. Was not long that Mary was with child and her collage days came to an end. Months later a 9.3 pound baby boy came into this world. They named him John Hoyt Ryder. The John was for my grandfather in Jefferson City. The Hoyt was for my father Wilburn Hoyt Ryder. While still a baby, Wilburn went to New York City to work helping to build the subways, tunnels and bridges there. A while later he sent for Mary to come there too and bring me. While there I was in my crib drinking my milk and the bottle slipped from my grasp and fell to the floor. The bottle hit the floor with a loud crash and broke letting the milk go everywhere. Being somewhat of a exiguous dare devil I managed to pull myself up by the bars on my crib and get my foot just over the top. Continuing to struggle I managed to get myself over the top and fell right on top of the broken glass. Then I must have screamed or cried very loud because mom and dad came running. They saw me lying in a pool of blood with my head split open. I guess it must have scared them a bit because they took me to the hospital very quick and there I received 18 stitches on the back of my head. Still have a big scare there today to prove that was a true story. My grandmother was very unhappy with the belief of us being in New York and mother brought me back to Tennessee.

On my mother's side my grandfather was John Paul Jones and my grandmother was Maud Jones. They owned the house that I grew up in Jefferson City, Tennessee. They had a large farm about two miles from town and grandfather taught school in a one room school house for many years. He had received his education from the Carson Newman College in town. He also farmed the land with my grandmother and their two children Mary and Ralph, my mother and uncle. As things got tough in the 29 crash he sold the farm and moved to town. He bought several acres in town and built a house.

Early Years

After learning to walk As a baby and up to time for school. John and his life during these years. Don't remember much before I started walking. Other than I didn't like squash all mashed up. Yuggggg, I still don't like squash even today. My grandmother "Maud" took in a 12 year old girl that her house said they couldn't afford to keep. Her name was Sara and she was my best friend. As a matter of fact she put her life on the line for me. I crossed the street in front of our house and a car came flying down the road. Sara felt sure I was going to be killed and she ran like a flash of lightning and pushed me out of the path of the car. She was not so lucky and the car hit her and ran over her legs. The rest of her life Sara had scars and a limp to live with. What more can a friend do? Sara was a true friend until the day Jesus took her to himself.

Well you need to know and get that same warm feeling about the area nearby the place I had to run, play, learn and to be sure dream. I was at a astounding age with the world for the taking. We had a big shed, barn, chicken lot and two big fields just for me. There were cherry trees, pear trees, apple trees and a big strawberry patch. Yep, we had roses and blackberry bushes with thorns that could pierce to the bone it seemed sometimes. I got to climb in the barn to the loft, in the trees and even on top of the chicken house. We hung burley tobacco in the barn and that was great, because I had tobacco sticks to use for my trusty horse as I rode all over the place. A field that I broke and made my six shooter came in handy as I chased the bad guys away. It was hard times during the big depression and my grandmother made my shirts from sacs chicken feed came in.

Bread was nine cents a loaf and the movie cost a dime. Salmon patties were a main meal with cornbread. We didn't have running water, electricity, an indoor bathroom, refrigerator, car or horse but we made it fine. We had a cistern on the back porch with a hand crank, a wood cook stove with a tank on the side to heat water for washing dishes and me, a path to an outhouse, an ice box to keep things cold and two strong legs to move along. We had a Warm Morning Stove in the living room that we put coal in to heat the house, ha ha heat the house. If you were not in the living room or near the wood stove in the kitchen you great have a coat on in the winter. I had the job of getting the coal to the house and the wood to the kitchen. When the big blocks of coal were getting low we would fill brown bags of coal dust to feed the stove. After filling a few dozen bags of coal dust we would be fully black with coal dust.

At three years old When I was three years old at a neighbor's house, the Moore's on the back porch I put a real chill in the air for every person in the house. The men had been hunting that morning and left their shotguns on the back porch when they took the hunting clothes off. Well being a exiguous boy with a lot of curiosity over to the shotguns as soon as I saw them. They were too heavy to pick up so I just played with them standing up and all of a sudden Baroooooom and a big hole appeared now in the ceiling on the back porch. All the Moore family, mother and Sara belief the worst, that exiguous Johnny would be in a pool of blood. As they ran to get me and stop the bleeding they heard "I just touched the gun and it went Bang and hurteee my arm when it jumped." That back porch still has a hole in the ceiling.

Aunt Pearl worked for the Wpa and helped folks during the Great Depression. The Civilian Conservation Corps (Ccc) was a work relief program for young men from unemployed families, established on March 21, 1933, by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and many in Jefferson City worked with the Ccc. They built roads, state parks, soil erosion control, build telephone and power lines. The Ccc had camps where the young men lived and worked out of. The New Deal ended with World War Ii. As Roosevelt himself said in December, 1943, "Dr. New Deal" had given way to "Dr. Win the War."

My grandmother rented rooms upstairs to the workers construction Cherokee Dam and made them lunches every day to take to work. She and Sara fixed sandwiches and a piece of fruit or cake and put coffee in a thermos flask in a bag for them to take. They fixed breakfast for them before going to work and had a home cooked meal for them at supper time. The workers built a bathroom on the back porch and the city had just run water down our street. Man that was wonderful. Now when it was cold and raining I didn't have to go to the exiguous house beside the chicken yard, about 150 feet from the back of the house. We even got a 30 gallon hot water tank and now had a shower in the bathroom on the back porch. Before that happened the men had to go to the barbershop to get a shower and it was twenty-five cents to take a shower there. I never got to do that. We had a big galvanized wash tub we put in the kitchen. We would fire up the wood cook stove to heat the water in the water tank on the side of the stove. The hot water was dipped up and put in the tub along with some water from the cistern. The curtain was pulled in the middle of the kitchen and dining room. Now it was bath time, Saturday night, to get ready for Sunday School and Church in the morning. That Saturday afternoon we would kill and pluck one or two chickens and put in the ice box for Sunday dinner. Sunday supper was ordinarily fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, greens, beets and biscuits and/or cornbread. Then it was pie or cake to round it off. Uncle Arch and Aunt Pearl came most Sundays for supper and Clifford and Juanita came many times. After the supper which would last at least an hour, every person would go to the living room where a card table was set up and the rook, rummy, or author cards came out.

December 7, 1941 - Japanese Bomb Pearl Harbor and I remember that day as if it was yesterday. It was dusk and the paperboy was walking down George street shouting "Extra Extra Perl Harbor bombed", "Read all about it", "Extra Extra Perl Harbor bombed". Such a quite surrounded me as a soft zephyr touched my skin and it was a scary eerie feeling that evening. President Roosevelt came on the radio as every person gathered and sat quietly paying intense attentiveness to each word advent from that Am cackling sound that huge radio was making. I had a hard time trying to sleep that night and my prayer just did not seem to ease as it ordinarily did. My mind was running a hundred miles an hour trying to understand why person would do such a thing to us. I was five at the time. Four days later Hitler declared war on the United States. Neighbors and my kinfolks were drafted or joined in to defend my country and me too. Every evening we would sit nearby that big radio and listen to the news of what was going on with the war. All gave some and some gave all. My uncle Grafton was lost at sea in the Pacific. Many of our neighbors lost loved ones and it was a very sad time.

Oak Ridge was built in 1942 northwest of Knoxville with a mission to create the Atom Bomb. Uncle Vincent was the Army photographer and assigned to Oak Ridge. He was like a Godfather to me and his wife, Aunt Alma, went to college with my mother. Aunt Alma's house just two blocks from our house. We went to visit Uncle Vincent and Aunt Alma there several times. It took a month to get a pass to enter this super underground base and the Army ran the bus to enter the gate. every person was searched and men with motor guns rode the bus with you and you had to go to the address on the pass. Anytime you left the address on the pass you must have an conduct by one of the population on your pass. This base had been built overnight and all the huts were plywood on a concrete pad and or tents. The roads were gravel and red mud. When the war was over Uncle Vincent gave me lots of patches and things he used when in the Army. He seemed to be as proud of me as I was of him.

Well mother had to go to work to help us get food to eat so she became a secretary at Tennessee Coal and Iron right here in Jefferson City. They mined zinc that was used to galvanize tin, buckets and the like. That would keep the iron from rusting and increase the life of many products. The comptroller at the mines would pick her up and bring her home from work every day. She had a typewriter at home and would do a lot of work at home too.

Grammar School years and the times. Grammar School Grades 1-6 We didn't have what they call preschool today, we just started school when you were 6 years old. Neither did we have free lunches or a school bus if you were in the city limits. It didn't take long to find out that you got two spankings if you were late getting in from recess. One from the teacher and one when I got home. Recess was 20 minutes in the morning and in the afternoon. There you got to play on the swing, jungle Jim, merry go round, shooting marbles or pal nearby with your buddies. We all the time solved the world's problems at recess or at least belief we had the exact reply for any question our world faced. Most of us carried our own lunch in a brown paper bag and those that had the 15 cents to buy lunch in the cafeteria ate there. We ate exterior ordinarily unless it was raining. All wax paper or wrappers were picked up on the way back to our classroom when the bell rang. Many of us wore shirts made from feed sacks and overalls or blue jeans. Blue jeans sold for about .00-.00. Soft drinks were 5 cents then and round steak (baloney) was the big deal on light bread with mustard or mayonnaise. Of procedure we had a piece of fruit to cap it off. That was lunch. Oh, sometimes we switched to peanut butter and jelly or peanut butter and banana.

When the last bell rang I would walk home and try to avoid a combine of bullies that lived a combine of blocks from our house. I found out I was a good runner and for the most part did not have to confront them. When forced to sometimes it got bloody, but I got in my licks to most times. I still do not understand why some population like to take advantage of others. I guess they felt cheated or they were abused by person else or their parents.

These were great times and after my home work was complete I would play exterior until dark and then get to sit in front of a radio about five feet tall and two feet wide and deep. The Lone Ranger and Red Ryder were my programs. I rode many miles with them and took care of the bad guys for sure. The big thing adults talked about was the war, the big one Wwii. In Wwii, there was a rationing of just about everything. We had division cards for each member of the family. Each was allotted so much sugar, gasoline, shoes and you name it. I was a exiguous 6 year old boy, but I remember collecting newspaper, metal objects, aluminum foil, string, and other things. Approximately all things was needed for use in production war items for the fighting men and women. We had to be very right of what we used. If our shoes got holes in the bottoms, we put cardboard in them and when we could afford it we would have "half-soles" put on them. Folks had to limit their traveling, because you were exiguous to your gasoline stamps. I had to walk in any place because we did not have a car so we didn't have gasoline stamps. Even butter and margarine were rationed.

Sugar was Approximately impossible to get at that time. Many things were scarce because they were needed to furnish the forces - gas, oil, metal, meat and other foods, as an example Some products were scarce because they were imported from countries with whom we were at war or because they had to be brought in by ship from foreign places. Rationing made sure no one went hungry. every person was given a division book. Each book had a bunch of division stamps in it. Grocers and other business population would post what your division stamps could buy that week. It was up to you to decree how to spend your stamps. every person had a Victory organery to grow their own vegetables to supplement the foods they could buy with their division stamps. They were planted in any place you could plant something. Some population planted things on window sills and on the roof in pots. all things had value for the war effort. We had Junk Rallies to get flat irons, rakes, bird cages, galvanic irons, stoves, lamp bulbs, bed rails, pianos, washing machines, rubber goods, farm machinery, lawn mowers, etc. That junk helped make guns, tanks, ships for our fighting men. I had a exiguous wagon that I pulled through the neighborhood getting things to take to the pickup area. Of procedure I wasn't alone, many other kids my age were doing the same and that made us feel we were helping the war effort. Saccharin Tablets were used to sweeten things and used in drinks. The book is planned to be complete this year, the Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise. It will be announced on my blog.

slight Johnny is Getting Old!

slight Japanese Samurai Sword Letter Opener With Stand describe

Japan, that tiny island in the pacific is the place of many stories and legends. One only has to think of that country and it brings to mind cherry blossoms, boat parades, pagoda, geisha girls and the considerable Samurai warriors of old.

The struggle over land in the 12th century in Japan gave rise to the skilled and considerable Samurai. These great warriors ruled Japan for 800 years. Their weapon of choice was their swords which they wielded with great skill and daring. Now you can relive a part of Japan's history and pay tribute to these fearless and honorable men right in your own office by owning a slight Japanese Samurai Sword Letter Opener with stand.

Japanese School Girls

This uniquely gorgeous letter opener stands 6.5 inches high and has a 3.75 inch blade which slices through an envelope like the true Samurai sword sliced through the armor of their enemies. The upright stand that holds this letter opener is designed to sit upright in true Shogun style bringing a slight of Japanese history into your home or office.

Great Conversation Piece

This slight Japanese Samurai Sword Letter Opener with Stand is eye catching and visitors to your office won't help but notice this exquisitely designed opener with its silver and red deal with and intricate carvings. It is a great conversation piece and can serve to relax a client before getting down to business.

For the sword accumulator who can't take a real sword into his office this opener is the next best thing, putting this work of art and weaponry right onto his desk for all the world to see. Customers who have owned this opener rave not only about how handy it is but also how fantastic it looks on their desk and how much concentration it gets.

Can enhance Your décor

For those of you who have an oriental theme in your office this letter opener can bring your entire décor together making your office sparkle with touches of a long forgotten place and time. Even if you don't have an oriental theme this opener can add a touch of history and whimsy to your office making it uniquely your own.

Great For Gift Giving

Priced at under ten dollars, this slight Japanese Samurai Sword Letter Opener with stand will make the exquisite gift for anything on your shopping list who needs a letter opener and enjoys the unusual, historic or just keen gift. It will make a fantastic gift for someone's birthday, father's day and Christmas. It also makes a fantastic graduation gift for those going off to college or seclusion or promotion gift.

While not everyone would be thrilled to have a real genuine sword hanging around their house there probably isn't anything who wouldn't enjoy this gorgeous and unique letter opener. Designed to look like the real thing but far less dangerous this fantastic desk accessory is truly worth the price. It is sturdy and can open those envelops at the flick of wrist. Who could ask for anything more?

slight Japanese Samurai Sword Letter Opener With Stand describe