Victor D. López's Blog: Victor D. Lopez, page 81

Heroes Desconocidos – Parte II (Remedios)

[The following is an excerpt in translation from the original English version of my poem Unsung Heroes from Of Pain and Ecstasy: Collected Poems (C) 2011, 2014 Victor D. Lopez]

 

Héroes Desconocidos

Aunque estoy parado en los hombros de gigantes, no veo mucho más lejos que el puente de mi nariz.

La culpa es mía. La vergüenza es mía. Pues no soy digno de ustedes, mis queridos muertos. 

Parte II–Remedios (Abuela Materna)
 Tu esposo murió a los 40, dejándote sola con siete hijos a mantener,
 Pero no antes de que tu hijo mayor más, Juan, muriera ahogado en el mar,
 Aun en su adolescencia, trabajando como pescador para ayudarte a ti y a tu esposo
 A poner comida en la mesa.

 

 

Habías también perdido a una hija,
 Toñita, también en su tierna adolescencia, a la enfermedad.
 Sus gentiles almas puras encontraron
 Su camino de regreso a casa demasiado pronto.

 

 

Más tarde en la vida que perderías dos hijos más a la tragedia, Paco (Francisco),
Un, hombre sumamente trabajador, honesto, y bueno cuya inclinación a usar lenguaje vulgar
Nunca pudieron desmentir una naturaleza apacible y un corazón generoso. Se electrocutó con una
Luz portátil defectuosa mientras trabaja en torno a su piscina.

 

 

Y el niño de tus ojos, Sito ( José ), el último en nacer y tu preferido, quien
Había heredado la hermosura física de su padre y también su conciencia social, su política de izquierdas,
Su imponente presencia, su labia de oro, y su mala, mala suerte, terminando su vida tal vez por
Accidente debajo del carril de un tren en movimiento.

 

 

Ni la desesperación ni la pobreza pudieron doblar tu espíritu. Tú te levantaste todos los
Días antes de la madrugada para vender el pescado en un puesto en la plaza.
Y cada tarde colocaste una enorme cesta de mimbre en la cabeza y
Caminaste muchos, muchos kilómetros para vender más pescado en otros pueblos.

 

 

El dinero era escaso, por lo cual a menudo recibías otros bienes a cambio de tu pescado.
También le dabas tu pescado a quien solo te lo podía pagar con su bendición. Caminabas
De vuelta a casa, a altas horas de la noche, a través de la oscuridad o por
Caminos iluminados por la luna, cargada de lo que te dieran a cambio de tu pescado.

 

 

Verduras, huevos, y tal vez un conejo o un pollo llenaban tu cesta de mimbre sobre tu
Fuerte cabeza. Caminabas recta sobre tus piernas repletas de venas varicosas, impulsada
Siempre hacia delante por un propósito noble: alimentar a tus hijos y poder darles
Esperanza de que vendrían tiempos mejores.

 

 

Durante la peor época de hambre mediante y después de la Guerra Civil, la chimenea de tu
Casa alquilada con vistas al Puerto de Fontan, expulsó humo negro todos los días.
El fuego de tu lareira alimentó no sólo a tus hijos, sino también a muchos vecinos aun
Menos afortunados que tú, alimentando su cuerpo y manteniendo en vida la esperanza.

 

 

Fuiste criticada por algunos vecinos cuando lo peor había pasado, después de la guerra.
“¿Por qué trabajas tan duro, Remedios, y permites que tus niños pequeños trabajen
Tan jóvenes? Los sacrificas a ellos y a ti misma sin necesidad por un orgullo imbécil
Cuando Franco y la ayuda extranjera otorgan comidas gratis para los necesitados”.

 

 

“Mis hijos nunca vivirán de la caridad pública mientras mi espalda lo permita,” era tu
Contestación. Resentiste a tu esposo por poner la política por encima de su familia, y por
Arrastrarte a ti y a tus dos hijas mayores de tu cómoda y sana vida en tu casa, en el
Numero 10 Perry Street cerca del Grenwich Village a una Galicia sin esperanzas.

 

 

El optó por inclinar su lanza a molinos de viento por a la eterna gloria de otros hombres
Necios. Y te dejó a ti sola para enfrentar la ingloriosa lucha por la sobrevivencia diaria.
No obstante su corazón enfermo, el trabajó  con gran diligencia para promover un futuro
Justo en su querida España, ignorando la realidad practica de tu doloroso presente.

 

 

Te llenó de hijos y construyó con gran cuidado la cruz en la cual lo crucificaron, una
Palabra a la vez, dejándote a ti la dolorosa tarea de recoger los rasgos de su idealismo
Destrozado.  Pero tú sobreviviste y prosperaste sin sacrificar tus propios principios
Sólidos y sin permitir que tus hijos sufrieran más privaciones que las del trabajo duro.

 

 

Nunca perdiste tu sentido del humor. Nunca tomaste a nada ni a nadie con gran seriedad.
Enfrentada con la absurdidad de la vida, siempre optaste por reírte con ganas.
Te vi llorar muchas lágrimas de risa, Pero nunca te vi llorar lágrimas de tristeza o de dolor.
Nunca te verías a ti misma como una víctima ni permitiría que otros lo hicieran.

 

 

Te encantaba la gente. Tu sentido del humor fue siempre irreverente y repleto de suave Ironía.
Y de gran sabiduría. Te encantaba reírte de ti misma, de otros, y especialmente de
Tontos pomposos que invariablemente no se daban cuanta que eran los objetos de tu gran
Diversión, inconscientes de tu despito, proveído con gentiles palabras y ojos luminosos.

 

 

Tus cataratas y miopía hicieron difícil que leyeras,
No obstante leías  vorazmente y te encantaba escribir largas
Cartas a tus familiares queridos  y amigos.
Eras una anciana sabia, la persona más sabia y más fuerte que jamás conoceré.

 

 

Eras sabia, si, pero con el corazón de una niña y el alma de un ángel.
Fuiste el ser más sano, más racional, más bien ajustado y humano que jamás he conocido. Eras
Traviesa, pero incapaz de malicia. Fuiste aventurera; nunca tuviste miedo de probar o de aprender algo
Nuevo. Fuiste amante de la diversión, interesante, amable, traviesa, divertida e infernalmente inteligente.

 

 

Habrías sido una de las primeras adoptadoras de toda la
Tecnología moderna, si hubieras tenido una vida más larga,
Y te hubiera encantado jugar-y trabajar con
Todos mis juguetes electrónicos.

 

 

Habrías sido un terror con un procesador de textos, con el correo electrónico
Y con las redes sociales y una gran campeona con mis juegos de video.
Me habrías ganando en todos ellos. Éramos grandes amigos tú y yo,
Y compañeros de juego a lo largo de la mayor parte de mi infancia.

 

 

Nos seguiste a nosotros aquí en breve después de que emigramos en 1967, dejando atrás a 20 nietos.
Nunca entendí a plenitud la profundidad de ese sacrificio,
O el amor que lo hizo soportable para ti. Lo comprendo ahora. Demasiado tarde.
Es uno de los grandes pesares de mi vida.

 

 

Jugamos juegos de mesa, a vaqueros e indios, carreras de coches eléctricos,
Volteamos tarjetas de béisbol y compartimos miles de manos de cartas juntos. Nunca
Se me ocurrió que tú eras el más mínimo inusual de ninguna manera. Te amé profundamente, pero
Nunca me moleste mucho por demostrártelo. Eso también me pesa, y es también demasiado tarde.

 

 

Después de mudarse a Buenos Aires, cuando mamá se había ganado suficiente dinero
Para llevarte a ti y a los dos hermanos más jóvenes, el sistema de cuotas entonces
No permitía que emigraran también tus dos hijos menores, quienes quedaron
Al buen cuidado de tu hija casada mayor en España, María, y su esposo, Fausto.

 

 

Los querías contigo. Te dirigiste directamente a Evita Perón para pedirle ayuda.
Como era de esperar, no pudiste conseguir esquivar a sus porteros. Pero no eras nada si no persistente.
Sabías que Evita salía temprano cada mañana para su oficina. Y te
Estacionaste a las 6:00 de la mañana, mediante muchos, días por su camino de salida.

 

 

 Con el tiempo, Evita le hizo parar a su chofer y te señalo que te acercaras.
 “Abuela, ¿por qué me hace señas a mí cada mañana cuando salgo para mi trabajo? “
 Ella preguntó. Tu le explicaste acerca de tus hijos en España. Evita se apiadó y
 Te escribió un pase en su tarjeta para verte en su oficina al día siguiente.

 

 

La fuiste a ver al día siguiente y ella te aseguró que la visa se expediría inminentemente;
Cuando se enteró de que hacías la vida de lavandera y de limpieza,
Ella te ofreció una máquina de coser y entrenamiento para
Convertirte en una costurera con la intención de promoverte una vida mejor.

 

 

Tú se lo agradeciste, pero declinaste la oferta. “Dele la máquina de coser a otra madre
Necesitada. Mi espalda es fuerte y mis manos me sirven bastante bien, igual que siempre
Me sirvieron. “Evita debió haber quedado impresionada, puesto a que te pidió que la
Visitaras una vez más cuando los niños hubiesen ya  llegado a Buenos Aires.

 

 

 Te dio otro pase y tú cumpliste tu palabra, como siempre, de volver a verla con tus niños.
 Evita te volvió a ver en su despacho brevemente y compartieron chocolate en taza y
Galletas tu, Evita y tus dos hijos menores—Emilio y José (Sito). No eras partidaria de la
Política ni del Peronismo, pero siempre defendiste a Evita mediante tu larga vida.

 

 

 Te fuiste demasiado pronto. No te había dicho “te quiero” en muchos años, estando
 Demasiado ocupado con mis estudios y con otras ocupaciones igualmente inútiles.
 Falleciste sin poder volverte a ver. Mamá tuvo que ir a tu lado sola. La última vez que
 Te había escrito te envié una foto de mi graduación de abogado.

 

 

Según mamá la llevabas en el bolsillo antes de que te diera el ictus cerebral del cual
No hubo recuperación. Como siempre, me quisiste con todas mis faltas que me hacen
Indigno de tu cariño. Yo presentí el momento de tu muerte. Desperté de un profundo
Sueño desperté y vi un pájaro blanco parado encima de mi escritorio al pie de mi cama.

 

 

Ese pájaro de tamaño humano extendió unas enormes alas y voló hacia mí,
Traspasándome y dejándome en un fuerte escalofrió. Supe en ese momento que
Habías muerto. Lloré y recé por ti. Mamá llamo el próximo día por la mañana
Para confirmar la triste noticia.

 

 

Mamá también me comunicó muchos años después que habías estado en una
Coma por un tiempo pero que habías despertado y que, sin conocerla, le
Habías dicho que viajabas a Nueva York par ver a tu nieto. Luego te dormiste
Por última vez, según mamá.  Te echo de menos todos los días.


 
 [Este es un extracto de mi poema más largo, "Unsung Heroes" de mi libro Of Pain and Ecstasy: Collected Poems © 2011, 2014. La traducción al español es rápida e imperfecta, pero también es mía.]

A Memorial Day Message

As another Memorial Day approaches, let us remember the sacrifice made by our men and women in uniform who served with honor and paid the ultimate sacrifice in places far from home for the freedom we enjoy. Let us remember them and their families for whose sacrifice we are also indebted. Let not Memorial Day be just another holiday, a day of store markdowns, or a day that marks the opening of beaches and parks for the summer season.  Let it be a day of remembrance for our fallen heroes and for their families. Let us offer them our prayers, our thanks, and our pledge that they will not be forgotten. That they mattered. It is the very least we can do as the debt we owe them is beyond our ability ever to fully repay.

Remember our fallen heroes not just on Memorial Day, but every time you see Old Glory flying high, proud and free. She is there only because of them. They can have no greater marker for their passing than the Stars and Stripes fluttering in the wind of a free, strong nation that only exists because of their selfless sacrifice. God Bless them all. And may God Bless all of our veterans and our men and women on active duty who serve with honor.

______________________

Death of a Quiet Soldier

Behind enemy lines you gave your life,

The risks you knew and embraced willingly,

Red, black and green berets fought by your side,

And brought your body back to family.

 

Later in a ritual of their own,

They would name a field airport in your name,

And honor you, your brothers, far from home,

Their memory now your eternal flame.

 

I do not know your rank, your name, your face,

I only know that I am in your debt,

Who for your family can take your place?

Our debt to them we must never forget.

 

The freedom I enjoy comes thanks to you,

And all who serve with honor, proud and true.

 

[Reprinted from Of Pain and Ecstasy: Collected Poems (C) 2011]

Zarb School Faculty Recognized by the North East Academy of Legal Studies in Business

Originally posted on Zarb Means Business:

Recently, Professor Eugene Maccarrone and Professor Lopez, both Zarb School faculty, tied for for the “Best Paper” award at the North East Academy of Legal Studies in Business Annual Conference.

Click the image to read an abstract of their paper, “Medical Malpractice Limitations for New York Infants — Time for a Time of Change?”

View original

Links to five sample readings of my poetry

Please click on the following links for some YouTube clips containing several readings from my book Of Pain and Ecstasy: Collected Poems. 

On Shattered Dreams

On Fading Dreams

Unsung Heroes excerpt and Sample Sonnets

Remedios

Central Park

 

Tagged: blank verse, contemporary poetry, free verse, poetry reading, sonnets

Fiction and Poetry Books Now Available through Smashwords

Starting April 14, 2014 most of my fiction and poetry is available through Smashwords. Kindle and paperback versions of these are still available through Amazon and paperback versions of my short story collections and poetry are also available through CreateSpace and various retailers.

In the coming weeks, Smashwords will make my titles available through Apple iBookstore, Sony, Kobo, B&N, Aldiko, and through other retailers and in other formats.

For a quick look at what’s available, please visit my Smashwords page by clicking here  (or copy the following link to your browser:  https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/VictorDLopez) . There you will find links to my Smashwords books and free previews.

As always, I am grateful for your interest and support.

 

End of Days free for the Kindle reader April 9 & 10

End of Days is one of the ten short stories in Mindscapes: Ten Science Fiction and Speculative Fiction Short Stories (C) 2014 by Victor D. López. It is also available as a stand alone short story for the Kindle reader and can be downloaded free of charge for two days only (April 9-10, 2014). Mindscapes is available in both paperback (6″x9″ size) and kindle formats and is currently under production as an audiobook to be released this spring through Audible, iTunes and Amazon.

End of Days poses a novel theory as to the role of black holes in both the creation and destruction of an endless number of universes that coexist in an incomprehensibly complex multiverse. It is a cautionary tale about the arrogance of scientists who are the cosmic equivalent of amoebas attempting to discern the secrets of the universe by thoroughly examining within the limits of their perception the drop of pond scum they inhabit. It is also a cautionary tale about the ability of determined, creative terrorists to begin the process that will lead to the destruction of our corner of the multiverse by the creative use of materials at their disposal.

The end is very, very near and there is absolutely nothing we can do about it.

You can go to the story’s Amazon page (and also the Mindscapes page) by clicking on the appropriate link above or the relevant book covers below.

 

 

 

 

This book is a compilation of 10 science fiction and speculative fiction short stories by the author from his two previous short story collections, Book of Dreams and Book of Dreams 2nd Edition, as well as two new stories written in 2013. Its scope extends from the innermost dimensions of the mind to the outer reaches of the universe, focusing from diverse perspectives on some common themes as to the meaning of life, the superlative strength and wrenching weakness of the human spirit, the power of love and the exquisite pain and ecstasy that flesh is heir to in its perpetual struggle between the duality of human nature that reflected both the divine and the profane.

In very broad outline, the ten stories involve the following themes:

If necessity is the mother of invention, could humanity use present technology to find a way to propagate its seed when faced with the certainty of an extinction-level event in less than two years’ time?

What really caused the catastrophic failure after the first full-scale test of the Large Hadron Collider? Motivated, ingenious terrorists are about to try their own field experiment to replicate the classified results of the test on a large scale using two suitcase nukes and a modified jetliner in an attack that, if successful, will eradicate all life on earth, destroy our corner of the universe and, in time, give birth to a new addition to the multiverse.

If we could communicate with the other sentient, intelligent species with whom we share our planet, what vital lessons might we learn from them and they from us?

In a not too distant future in which all human beings on earth are connected and integrated into a single neural net, what price might be exacted for one wishing to opt out?

Egyptologists and historians have long debated the riddle of the Sphinx–its true origins, its too-small human head and the pharaoh it was intended to represent. What if the riddle could be revealed live, in prime time, to an attentive world-wide audience upon the excavation of a chamber buried stories beneath its right paw?

What price would you pay to revisit a crossroad in your life when you had made a terrible, life altering mistake? Would you give up an unfulfilled life for the chance of virtual happiness in an alternate reality?

Would you sacrifice everything if you could attain absolute knowledge? If so, could you live with the knowledge you attained?

It is said that no man is an island, but what if even the least among us is a god in his/her own right?

If an alien visitor offered you a lifetime of health and the gift of telepathy for a small service, would you be quick to accept?

If we purportedly use only a small fraction of our brain’s capacity, what possible purpose does the apparently unused portion serve?

Above are some of the questions raised in this collection of science fiction and speculative fiction short stories that explores the interrelationship between dreams and reality, the nature of reality itself, and the dangers attendant to the single-minded pursuit of wish fulfillment that all too often results in unexpected and unwanted consequences.

The author is an Associate Professor of Legal Studies at Hofstra University’s Frank G. Zarb School of Business and has previously published seven non-fiction books through traditional publishers. His business law and legal environment textbooks have been used in colleges and universities throughout the United States since 1993. He has also published a book of poems and the two previous noted books of short stories since 2011.

For more information about the author’s books, textbooks, scholarly articles and blogs, you can visit victordlopez.com.

 

Tagged: Armageddon, disaster, literary fiction, science fiction, SF, short fiction, speculative fiction

My first and still favorite short story free for the Kindle through March 24 2014

You can download the first short story in my Mindscapes: Ten Science Fiction and Speculative Fiction Short Stories from Amazon in the U.S. here: (Outside of the U.S., just search for the title and/or my name for the relevant free download page.)

Eternal Quest is one of my first short stories, written when I was 19 for a fiction class in college along with some others that have been lost over the years. Although I’ve lightly reworked it over the intervening thirty five years or so, it remains largely as I first wrote it and is still my personal favorite among my short fiction. As is true of most of my short fiction (published and unpublished alike), it  reflects more than a little of my own neo-Platonist philosophy and romantic core and delves into questions at the center of human existence. It is about sacrifices willingly made for love and friendship that can make even the white-hot pain of unrequited love bearable. It is about putting the needs of others above our known, about the mindless pursuit of answers in all the wrong places and about lessons too often learned in life much too late for solace, comfort or salvation.

But this story is also about much more than existentialist despair, or the tragedy of the unrealized promise of a life lived with blinders on. Ultimate it is about friendship, about the need to balance what Plato called the Appetites, Reason and the Spirited Element (what Freud later “borrowed” and renamed the Id, Ego and Superego) in each of our own lives. More than anything, it is is about transformational friendship and its ability, for those of us lucky enough to experience it, to make us far stronger than we could ever be without the balance it brings to our lives. I blush to admit this, but more than thirty years after writing this story, I still tear up when I read it to the end not because it strikes any sort of responsible chord but because it reveals what is for me the most important truth of human existence when all the layers are pealed off at the end of life and we are left with the fundamental truth of our existence as we breathe our final breath. The personal subtext is not important, then or now, but the knowledge that there is no greater truth we can learn during our short sojourn through life than that which is taught only by pure, unselfish, love–of the required and unrequited varieties–is essential, at least for the young author who has learned nothing of greater importance himself in the middle age of a life devoted to the dissemination of knowledge and doubts he ever will.

Free Kindle version of my most alarming science fiction short story three days only starting 3/20/2014

Although I generally dislike disaster films and novels with Armageddon themes, three of my most recent short stories from my short story collection Mindscapes: Ten Science Fiction and Speculative Fiction Short Stories in fact deal with the “end of the world” from three very different perspectives. In one, the end of days comes from digging up that which was meant to be left alone (The Riddle of the Sphinx: Solved), in another from an asteroid (Mars: Genesis 2.0) and in the third from scientists’ penchant for playing with things they know very little about (End of Days). There are many common threads in my fiction, and layers of meaning in almost all of my stories about the duality of the human spirit with its infinite capacity for good and evil and the attendant interplay between the holy and the profane that are at the core of what makes us human.

This week, I am making available one of my newest short stories, End of Days,  free for the Kindle on Amazon from March 20 through March 22. It is one of my darkest short stories perhaps because it so closely reflects the current slide into entropy of a world spinning out of control. Perhaps because it is more than merely plausible. Perhaps because this eternal optimist who has thought too much about nearly everything for too long a time is having ever-greater difficulty seeing the silver lining in the gathering storm. Perhaps simply because even I can’t shake off the uneasy feeling that it is quite possibly prophetic.

Here is the description from its Amazon page. just click on the cover to download it free from Amazon for the noted three days.

This is one of the ten short stories in Mindscapes: Ten Science Fiction and Speculative Fiction Short Stories (C) 2014 by Victor D. López.

This short story poses a novel theory as to the role of black holes in both the creation and destruction of an endless number of universes that coexist in an incomprehensibly complex multiverse. It is a cautionary tale about the arrogance of scientists who are the cosmic equivalent of amoebas attempting to discern the secrets of the universe by thoroughly examining within the limits of their perception the drop of pond scum they inhabit. It is also a cautionary tale about the ability of determined, creative terrorists to begin the process that will lead to the destruction of our corner of the multiverse by the creative use of materials at their disposal.

The end is very, very near and there is absolutely nothing we can do about it.

Free Kindle speculative fiction short story through March 3, 2014

“To Sleep, perchance to Dream . . .” is free for the Kindle reader for five days only (February 27 – March 3). It is a stand alone short story and one of ten short stories in my Mindscapes collection. You can download the short story by clicking on its book cover below. The Amazon description follows:

There is a common thread in many of my short stories and even in my poetry about the nature of reality and the relationship between sleep and wakefulness and the conscious and subconscious mind. As is the case with a number of my short stories, this was inspired by a dream. It delves into one possible explanation for what lurks in the dark

recesses of our mind for which science has yet to discover a clear use.

This short story (2,792 words) is reprinted from Book of Dreams: Science Fiction and Speculative Fiction Short Stories, (C) Victor D. Lopez 2011, Book of Dreams Second Edition: Science Fiction and Speculative Fiction Short Stories (C) Victor D. Lopez 2012, and Mindscapes: Ten Science Fiction and Speculative Fiction Short Stories (C) 2014 by Victor D. López.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kindle SF Short Story Free – Two Days Only (2/24-2/25/2014)

“Earth Mother” is free for the Kindle Monday and Tuesday only (2/24 2/25/2014). This is one of ten short stories featured in my Mindscapes short story collection (available in paperback and Kindle versions and currently in production as an audiobook for release in May 2014).  The following is the description from the short story’s Amazon page:

A mysterious visitor from another world wakes a young, ambitious woman in the middle of the night to deliver an intriguing offer after nearly frightening her to death. He explains that his race is dying as women in his distant world are no longer able to carry embryos of their species to term. If she is willing to serve as a surrogate mother for an embryo for an accelerated gestation period of a few weeks, he promises to return to take away the child and to bestow upon her the gift of telepathy for the remainder of her life in exchange for her service. As an added bonus, the embryo will provide a boost to her immune system that will make her virtual impervious to all disease for the rest of her life. If she accepts, will her dreams finally be realized, or will she live to regret her choice?