Reunion in San Quentin / a poem by my mother / from Rachel

Rachel

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Feb 23, 2016, 3:00:08 PM2/23/16

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Upon a night of quick alarm

we dashed down a highway

south to San Quintin

a point inlaid -

bosky desert of oily waters,

expatriates and sardines.

Inspected by the eyes of a thousand fishes

piled dead

on the cannery bank,

we faced each other blankened by the lull of separation.

Fishheads drop,

dust and soda-pop,

blonde hair speaking Spanish

with a California license.

Wind blows fire-glow from

lamps of precious kerosene

spreading out the stories of the interim.

The wind blew down

on smelly waters.

Hammers pounding out

the oil and dirt

of daily matters.

In a bay of fishheads

four boats anchor,

a gull and pelican hover,

sardines and, here, a seal

and everywhere the tinned remains of

tourists.

Silently we wondered what remained for us together.

Our legs dangling on an oil drum

watching morbid

the betrayal of a gull

who lands together with his flock

but cannot rise again.

He falters and floats,

falters and floats

trying to recharge electric strength of yesterday.

Sharon Girard

drive-by

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Feb 23, 2016, 5:38:26 PM2/23/16

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Three lines down... San Quintin....spelled right in the title./

Enjoyed, could smell the brine with this, feel a cold sea spray. Love it when poetry can do that to the senses..For some reason I thought of Alcatraz.

Rachel

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Feb 23, 2016, 5:51:39 PM2/23/16

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maybe they escaped from san quentin, and went charging south to méhico, but the harsh cold reality that landed them in prison the first time, left them high and dry again, and they snuck back into the us, looking for a spark to galvanize them, got caught, and were sent back to san quentin to be "rehabilitated?" what do you think? lol

Rachel

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Feb 23, 2016, 5:57:42 PM2/23/16

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no, you're right. this is embarrassing. i looked up san quintin (i had never heard of it, before i saw the bottom of the file, scanned typewritten page, saying when and where), and then when typing it over, the title into the subject, i goofed. :-( really, i did. (iow, i messed it all up.)(like i do with everything. :-( )

Rachel

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Feb 23, 2016, 6:06:11 PM2/23/16

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i mean, you got it backwards. well, first you got it backwards, then i got you backwards. ;-)

it's called Reunion in San Quintin, which is down in mexico, i learned, after seeing this poem.

i wonder if my mom was playing on the title...she wrote it in san quintin.

maybe i got her backwards. an escape to san quintin.

well, anyways...

Rachel

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Feb 23, 2016, 6:11:33 PM2/23/16

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okay, so apparently, we've figured it out. my mom is on the lam, a convicted felon, escaped from san quentin.

Rachel

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Feb 23, 2016, 6:15:12 PM2/23/16

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and apparently, she had an accomplice. no one knows what became of him.....or her.

this has eerie spooky shades of the shawshank redemption...or escape from alcatraz, as you say... :)

Will Dockery

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Feb 23, 2016, 6:21:49 PM2/23/16

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On Tuesday, February 23, 2016 at 5:57:42 PM UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
>
> no, you're right. this is embarrassing. i looked up san quintin (i had never heard of it, before i saw the bottom of the file, scanned typewritten page, saying when and where), and then when typing it over, the title into the subject

You're not much of a Johnny Cash fan, are you?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Quentin_State_Prison

On February 24, 1969, country music singer Johnny Cash played a live concert for the prison inmates. The concert was released as an album At San Quentin and as a television documentary Johnny Cash in San Quentin (filmed by Granada Television). During the concert, the song "San Quentin", about an inmate's loathing for the prison, received such an enthusiastic response that Cash immediately played an encore

I would have wagered you were a Johnny Cash person, given his close connections, collaborations and friendship with Bob Dylan for so many years.

Rachel

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Feb 23, 2016, 6:34:59 PM2/23/16

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i loved some of those songs, man. i heard them one evening of my life from a prison cd. i can't remember which one, though. (folsom or san quentin) i'm vaguely aware of his liasons with both...?

Message has been deleted

Will Dockery

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Feb 23, 2016, 7:05:34 PM2/23/16

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Folsom Prison Blues, the one where he shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.

:D

drive-by

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Feb 23, 2016, 7:07:33 PM2/23/16

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Much better...:-)

Will Dockery

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Feb 23, 2016, 7:09:45 PM2/23/16

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You caught my typo..?

:)

drive-by

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Feb 23, 2016, 7:11:23 PM2/23/16

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Doe a deer a female deer...:-)

Will Dockery

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Feb 23, 2016, 7:19:53 PM2/23/16

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On Tuesday, February 23, 2016 at 7:11:23 PM UTC-5, drive-by wrote:
>
> Doe a deer a female deer...:-)

Thank the Lord for a "delete button", am I right?

:)

drive-by

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Feb 23, 2016, 7:26:19 PM2/23/16

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Shame we can't edit at will.......a nice edit button would be welcomed.

Will Dockery

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Feb 23, 2016, 7:57:07 PM2/23/16

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For Rachel:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/68/88/3f/68883f2736fecd8fa51fc8af409e7ab5.jpg

Johnny Cash & Bob Dylan hanging out in Nashville.

Rachel

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Feb 23, 2016, 8:57:56 PM2/23/16

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i don't know.

not to offend anyone, he kinda scares me. doesn't seem that personable...

they even showed that in the movie..

:-///

Rachel

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Feb 23, 2016, 9:14:53 PM2/23/16

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J.C. that is... :-/ :)?

Will Dockery

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Feb 24, 2016, 1:55:40 AM2/24/16

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Here's my favorite Johnny Cash picture of all time...

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/9a/5a/4d/9a5a4dd6ba46384b1d798910e8b05e06.jpg

Victor Hugo III

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Jun 18, 2019, 8:51:25 PM6/18/19

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On Tuesday, February 23, 2016 at 3:00:08 PM UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
>

Very nice poetry Rachel..........

High Number

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Sep 8, 2019, 11:53:42 PM9/8/19

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On Tuesday, February 23, 2016 at 3:00:08 PM UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
>

Real good poem.... bumped up for Vinyl Cat......