She looks like the typical Cali girl
To us she’s a jewel, a diamond, a pearl
When she smiles she brightens up the room
And for a minute lessens our sense of gloom
Katie is her name, the clubhouse intern
She’s so unlike others, she’s friendly, not stern
May she always keep this sunny disposition
Because life on the street is hard, whatever the
Condition

I once had a love to last
   for all my days
What I wouldn’t do for it
    let me count the ways

It was a love I had
   lost because of sin
When I look at your face now,
    what’s written now is "el fin"

What will it take to
   pick up all the shattered pieces?
Strewn all over the place
    for the pain never ceases

The only answer I have
   is to give all this some time
Sort through all my emotions,
    not change them on a dime

I love you "mi corazon amor"
   you mean so much to me
What we had was special
    and what’s happened we must let be

Why drag you through my problems
   when you have your own
But remember the team we once were,
    as so evidently shown

And one day it will be even better,
   this I swear and guarantee
Because I love you truly and your children.
    One day a family

 

August 16, 2005
Tuesday
6:30 p.m.

our lives are stitched from suture to suture
into a quilt made of past, present and future

the lives we have led make up our psyche
and what it has taught us can tell whether we

have a recipe with all the ingredients
to be one with it all, not just be expedient

we’ve grown, you and i, together and apart
share a love for one another, until death do us part

and when we move on to the next life’s stage
we’ll always have something from which to gauge

for love is eternal, has no beginning, has no end
always it shall be, these divine thoughts we shall send

Whenever he speaks,
  I have a warm feeling inside
    And my despairs and fears vanish
      not lurking within to hide

I never gave much thought
  to what most people had to say
    But having known you Chaplain
      I know that I’m on my way

As you have counseled all of us here,
  Godspeed on your journey
    Healing those you will encounter
      giving first aid, applying a gurney

I think I speak for all of us here
  when I say you will be missed
    From the reading, the talks and prayers,
      we have all got the gist

It is all about love,
  for ourselves and for one another
    Thank you Chaplain Bryan
      In you we all have a brother

 

ODE TO CHAPLAIN BRYAN
August 14, 2005
Sunday
8:30 p.m.

Thomas Lucas Leto

We are all gathered here
  to celebrate
Something special:
   the night we all graduate

It’s more than a parchment,
  that we stand to receive
It’s something from within,
   it’s the words "I believe"

I believe I’ve come far
  and I still have a road ahead
I believe I can make it
   because in me I have led

The skill I’ve been taught
  in receiving this here diploma
Allows me to stand amongst anyone
   whether from La Jolla or Pt Loma

Being surrounded tonight by
  our loved ones, friend is a high
But you haven’t seen anything yet,
   watch us soar, watch us fly

 

A GATHERING AMONG PEERS
August 19, 2005
Friday, 3:00 p.m.

herded we are in a pen
enclosed like livestock, gone is our den

try as we might go back to the life of yore
we now realize our path is here, like never before

intake, bug day, storage so small
chores, snoring, complaints, all

litle do we know this is all meant to be
for the heavens above has planned this for all to see

we may be the runts and the weak of society
but we are most blessed between you and me

our lives are being shaped all from one another
this fellowship of love we all call sister and brother

such is the mystery of why we are all here
we are no longer cattle, we’re now the prized steer

 

from cattle to prized steer
baluca
january 12, 2006
6:15 am, on the 25 bus on the way to no. city campus

I’ve caught a glimpse of him
  maybe once or twice
Perhaps I didn’t get him at the right time,
  he didn’t have a smile, not very nice

One time an article about cars
  purchased from his auction lot appeared
Stirring up a frenzy as if this man is
  a criminal, someone to be feared

So what if the intent of the buyer
  is at odds with Father Joe’s?
The latter is a godsend in many
  ways we’ll ever, ever know

So there he was with a delegation
  of men sporting the collar
I was excited to see him, it was
  enough for me to want to holler

It was a serious matter and I
  could see the gravity of the scene
So I kept my mouth shut, to do
  otherwise would be obscene

With the weight on his shoulders
  to operate this village
In a place that’s being gentrified
  our home this city wants pillaged

Unbeknownst to them all,
  perhaps Father Joe knows this too
We’re all sitting on a gold mine
  for we’re all resources, me and you

Father Joe’s giving us a second chance
  an effort he never, ever tires
And what is now only a village
  will one day soon become an Empire

 

July 2005

I once had a love until the end of my days
Corazon her name was with a smile from sun rays

I once had a love, oh let me count the ways
but I wasn’t good enough so I left without delay

I once had a love, on the following night of our lay
she went to her lover, a man in sports plays

I once had a love, she the sculptress I the clay
that is now past, to our own paths godspeed i pray

i once had a love, one of forever, here to stay
now i’m a lost child, in mourning, my heart in decay

i once had a love, a story in book and in say
seek once again i shall a love,
   for what rains in april blooms in may

 

bereft
baluca
january 11, 2006
10:20 p.m. at the bishop maher center,
father joe’s village

abrasame. tiempo a tiempo. abrasame
quiero tengame en mis brasos y nunca suelte

digame. tiempo a tiempo. digame
quiero oir las palabras "me amas, me amas, me amas"

besame. tiempo a tiempo. besame.
quiero probar los labios dulces a la mina

tocame. tiempo a tiempo. tocame
quiero sentirse el calor de su cuerpo dentro de mí

 

instructions

 

hold me. time and again. hold me
i want you in my arms and never let go

tell me. time and again. tell me
i want to hear the words "you love me, you love me,
you love me"

kiss me. time and again. kiss me
i want to taste your sweet lips unto mine

touch me. time and again. touch me

i want to feel the warmth of your body inside me