A New Poem-dedicated to my grandparents

Friends,

This is an original poem that I wrote for my grandparents recently. This is simply a snap-shot of how they met and a brief picture of their serendipitous meeting and uncommon love. Hope you enjoy!

It was Nearly a Century ago

By: Cameron Morgan

First drafted: 5/27/2013

Last Edited: 6-20-2013

All Rights Reserved. Copyright R. Cameron Morgan. 2013.

It was nearly a century ago

Sweat-choked sun-rays bore down up-on Ford-worn streets,

You could walk miles up those staircase hills-

Climbing toward some stunning dream.

An engine of churning opportunity,

Store-room like a pre-war Airforce hangar -

Endless stereotyped rows of hollowed suits

And regimented, clean-cut servicemen-

Enlisted by the need for money or honor-

Ready to give their lives in the service of one phoenix day.

She could’ve been mistaken for a model,

A front page starlet bathed in the black and white-

Lights of creased magazines-

Stately, irrepressible, a beauty

With a future-fixed gaze.

She was scribing numbers and smiling

Like an impatient sun;

Burning too brightly for the gossamer shroud of night

To long smother, and so-

When nestled home in the more suburban streets of Salt Lake City,

She sang loudly through the tennored throat of violin-

Strumming summer strings like seasons had no end.

Her dream was the baritone prose of her father:

Steady hands still shading the contours of

Her pointilist verse,

A melody mellifluous in the rhythmic heart of time.

Yet another sun-stroked day,

Fire-heels striking anvil pavement:

Red glow and incandescent echoes.

She gently swung-open the long-rusted

Malt-shop door; old-flaky white and plaintive hinges

And touched gently-down…a malt; Old-style Vanilla Bean ice-cream.

The violent heat slowly strangling the sedentary fans,

But the soft chill of the confection

Consumed her with joy-

Lost as she was,

To the promise of its transitory eternity.

He didn't often trek up those labyrinthine streets,

But convention seemed silly in that shattering heat.

He was searching for something beyond the sun-soaked horizon

Respite from lectures and lingering worries long after hours-

Somewhere to rest his weary soles and paper- paste-dry tongue.

He spotted the malt-shop, sugar-hungry eyes straining

To see the strangely-sweet scented oasis;

Almost broke into a smile as he sauntered up the last steps-

Like training camp all over again;

His big-smiling, big-toothed friends, laughing sanguine-splashed- white

Teeth stained with strawberry malt and bough-picked cherries.

The door ululated in a joyful squeal

As the first soldier, a jock and a drunk, caught his eye.

Slumping like a tree felled by tempestuous wind

Into that dusty-hard backed chair,

A sound slap warmly greeting his sweaty back.

Awaking from that moment as if a dream,

Shaken to reality by glowing eyes and candied zephyrs:

He saw… her,

Phosphorescent smile like the ever-opalescent moon-

Overcoming the thin veil of opaque night.

He knew from that second that he had to know her,

Learn her name; share a solitary moment that would

Mean everything in its subtle transience.

He held her glance like a reticent hand,

For just a second before turning as if he hadn't.

Sipping his straw-strewn malt stronger now

To drown out the sound of her syllabic gaze.

Instead he turned, steady tremored heart trembling

With a smooth hello.

She was rightfully reticent; having known the Army-type:

Shiny boots, slicked hair and slicker souls-

So she kept her distance with an askance glance…

Still something told her to listen:

Strangely, when he asked for time to spend and a night to share

She accepted, assured by his honest handshake,

Unwavering, like the love that began 3 weeks later

With their fire-fly marriage-

Enduring 70 years with calloused hands

And un-exhaustible wells of understanding.

He took her eager hand to the alter

And wrote every day while swept away

By the undulating tides of war.

Every letter stained with pacific ink,

Like strawberry-malt-spotted teeth.

70 summers, 70 rapturous falls,

70 Winters too cold and too long-

And a love that has endured them all.

Senator Orrin Hatch's response to my letter on immigration reform

I recently wrote the Senator, urging him to vote 'yay' on the Comprehensive Immigration Bill before Congress. I argued that the bill is pro-growth, pro-family and would tighten border security-in tandem with the path to citizenship. I expressed how important it is to take the 11 million or so undocumented immigrants in this country out of the shadows and bring them in to the 'formal economy.' This will increase economic productivity, improve individual morale, strengthen families and neighborhoods and cut the deficit-according to the recent Congressional Budget Office Report: CBO report. 

The Senator's response (a staffer's response) suggests that the Senator will not vote for the legislation and is serving more as a stone-waller and a 'poison-pill' to the process. However, we should keep up the pressure by urging the Senator to vote 'yay' on this important bill. Here is the official response below:

Dear Mr. Morgan:

 

Thank you for taking the time to write with your views on S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act. I appreciate hearing from you.

 

As the longest serving Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, I have worked for many years to improve our nation’s immigration system and increase security on our borders. In recent years, Congress has considered a number of immigration reform proposals that, in the end, would have given blanket amnesty to the millions of illegal immigrants currently residing in the U.S. Please know I have long opposed this approach. In fact, I voted against the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

(P.L. 99–603, 100) also known as the Simpson-Mazzoli Act which expressly granted amnesty. Right now, I believe that we need concrete reforms to fix the loopholes in our current system rather than create new ones.

 

Of course, I am not opposed to individuals entering our country legally, and I recognize the opportunities this country offers to many. We are a nation of immigrants and we must not forget that our country is a melting pot. We are also a nation of laws, and those individuals patiently waiting to be granted American citizenship should not be put at a disadvantage because of those who came here illegally.

 

Since the introduction of S. 744, I have acknowledged repeatedly that, in order to secure my support for the underlying measure, improvements must be made. I am pleased that, during the Judiciary Committee’s consideration, we were able to do that by further strengthening border security and ensuring the United States can remain competitive in a global economy. In fact, I agree with what some have said, that doing nothing to address this serious issue is, in essence, de facto amnesty. Already, fourteen of my twenty-four amendments have been accepted to the bill.

 

However, I still believe this bill needs further improvement before I will lend my support for final passage. I have proposed four common-sense changes to the underlying bill which were not under the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee.

 

My amendments will improve the current legislation by:

 

• Ensuring that federal dollars cannot be used for purposes that were not contemplated under the 1996 federal welfare reform law;

 

• Clarifying the bill to ensure that immigrant applicants satisfy their lawful federal tax obligations resulting from any period of their U.S. residency;

 

• Applying a five-year waiting period for tax credits and cost-sharing subsidies under the health law for individuals going through the RPI and Blue Card pathway; and

 

• Prohibiting those not authorized to work in this country from claiming unauthorized earnings to gain eligibility from Social Security coverage.

 

As the Senate debates and amends S. 744 on the floor, you can rest assured I will keep your timely and thoughtful comments in mind. I welcome your continued input on issues of concern.

 

Your Senator,

 

 

 

 

 

Orrin G. Hatch

United States Senator