Last night I dreamt:
That you saw me
For the very first time
After so, so many years.
You held me
I held you
‘Til light’s first rays appeared.
Then I awoke:
Oh, it was so real!
You were here with me
As much as I was there with you
And oh, it was so real!
-EVA SANTIAGO
COPYRIGHT 2012
Pick yourself up because today is not yesterday. Today is to today so give it all due respect by leaving yesterday behind and stop looking back at yesterday as if it was an old lover; who left you for some one better. But then don’t get so far ahead of yourself that you disregard today because you’re more interested in tomorrow. Don’t cheat today because you’re so in love with tomorrow; a thing that was never promised to any of us. Don’t rob today of all of your time and energy by wasting it on an uncertain future. Today is today so give it all you have. Savor each moment as a person in a desert landscape drinks in the last of his water in his canteen. He doesn’t know if there’s more water coming just like you don’t know the number of your days!
-Eva Santiago copyright 2012
In this new place there is no room for bitterness. Bitterness is a dead man’s grave-clothes. I have cast off all my grave-clothes for good. The last vestiges, which hung on to me by a thread, have fallen at my feet and bitterness is eradicated once and for all. From here on out I see ahead only as far as the lamp I carry allows me to. I have caught glimpses of my future. I carry with me postcards , snap shots of it and when I look at those, I smile because I know I’m headed there for sure. Perhaps that is my only certainty in this new place; my assurance of a better future than the current present and that is enough to comfort me and keep me on this path that is taking me there. Every sunset I see differently now. Sunsets now mean that I have overcome another day. This day has passed into tomorrow. The sun setting on today can only mean one thing: That my future draws closer and that is exciting.
Who awaits me in my future?
Eva Santiago © 2012
I lost my mother when I was 2 months old and I have missed her for 42 years. There are times when I just wish she was around/ For instance when I’m having a bad menstrual cycle I say,” These are the times when a grown woman needs her mother.” Seriously though, I still ache for her and I’m posting this poem I wrote to honor her on Mother’s Day. This is an excerpt from my new book, Salsa! The Taste of Life, which is in the publishing process now. ” Feliz dia de las madres !” to all of my Spanish-speaking readers and “Happy Mother’s Day!! ” To all the moms who read me!
You Are With Me
I thought for sure
I’d never get to know you,
all my fears concerning you-
have long since vanished.
As I change my point of view.
I see you in the eyes of my Elena.
I hear you in Esther’s girlish giggles.
I sense you in Joseph’s thoughtfulness.
Your love reaches out to touch me,
through Raquel’s gentleness.
That I never had you,
is losing its importance.
For you’ve been here beside me all along.
When Esther hugs me,
I feel your tenderness.
Through Joseph’s eyes,
you reveal yourself to me.
In my girl’s beauty and poise,
I learn of your loving kindness.
When they twirl effortlessly,
I sense your free-spirited ways.
Raquel, well you know, she bears your name;
She helped me feel you once more
When you came to help me have her
You gave birth to me again.
Eva Santiago © 2012
We are having a funky day in the desert today. A sand storm is blowing our way from Arizona and it makes for ugly skies and super dry skin. I miss the sound of rain 🙂
It’s gritty, it’s dry and it sucks.
It gets in your eyes,
and in your hair it flies.
Don’t open your mouth,
here comes all that damn sand from the south.
Eva Santiago © 2012
What would I do without Pinterest? 🙂 Happy Hump day everyone!
I believe in family meals so much. What better way to reconnect with everyone at the end of the day with a nice home-made meal. I say turn the TV and gadgets off for the sacred, intimate moments shared at the dinner table. That’s what we do around my home.
I also believe strongly in teaching kids responsibility and the value of work early on in their lives. They’ll thank you for it one day.
ALL NIGHT
I stayed up all night,
pondering and pacing,
with sweaty palms and heart racing;
what to do what’s the next step?
You don’t care, this I know.
All that concerns you,
is your one man show.
I stayed up all night,
pondering and pacing,
with sweaty palms and heart racing,
What are you gonna do girl?
You are here and he’s in another world.
I stayed up all night,
pondering and pacing,
with sweaty palms and heart racing,
4 young souls looking at me,
they all seek an answer.
I stayed up all night,
pondering and pacing,
with sweaty palms and heart racing,
Why are you so mean?
Won’t you ever come clean?
Alas, sleep came ever so sweetly,
I fought her I did,
sleep came ever so sweetly,
weighing down both my eye lids,
took my cares away and I left the scene quickly.
Eva Santiago © 2012
JUST ASK AND BELIEVE
I believe in the power of prayer. Do you? I have been praying over the years, for my uncle in whose home I grew up in. Praying for him lead me to forgive him for having failed me like he did during the years when I lived with him. Praying for him helped me see him as 100% human, thereby helping me see him as flawed and frail as me. Praying for him changed me and all I have left of him now are the few good memories of those years. A few years back I found out he had prostate cancer. Well, I kept praying for his healing and even though I never heard any news of him, I persisted in praying for him. Today I was talking to a good friend of mine and she told me she had recently heard that he was now a religious fanatic. Well at first I chuckled and then I remembered that when I found faith in Christ and started walking my faith journey, people said the same thing about me.. So I realized that my uncle has found faith in God and that my many years of praying for him DID indeed pay off!
If you have been praying for someone or some thing, NEVER stop. I tell you the truth, God DOES answer prayer and the petitions of the righteous avail MUCH!
BE GLAD!
Rejoice! Rejoice and be glad!
For you see,
being a nobody isn’t so bad.
We’ve all been lied to,
conditioned and misinformed;
told us that in order to be loved,
we must get and acquire and do.
So they put us all on a treadmill.
We became a horde of scrambling rats,
scurrying at break neck speed.
The rat race was where it was all supposed to be.
Then one day you stop,
realizing you were made for a higher purpose;
for in all your getting and acquiring,
you’ve become a bankrupt soul.
That’s when it all starts unraveling.
Suddenly you find yourself traveling-
down a long slippery slope.
You see what you’ve known all along:
that rat race you’ve been running,
takes you nowhere after all.
That’s when you meet The One,
He says to us all,
“ Come follow me.
Stop all your senseless activity.
I’ll make you an original,
just what you always dreamed you’d be.”
So Rejoice! Rejoice and be glad,
Rest assured and hear me say,
” Stay on course. Don’t deviate from the straight and narrow.”
If you do, you’ll only be a misguided arrow.
Trust Him, abide and stay put.
You’ve come this far,
you don’t want what others seek-
to be a fleeting shooting star.
All that He has is YOURS: The riches of His kingdom.
Eva Santiago © 2012
Today was fun! I went with my two oldest daughters prom dress shopping. I have taught my kids that the mall isn’t the best place to shop. Everything is high-priced and not even worth the amount on the price tag. Besides there is a cool thrift store where we live called Savers and you can find some very nice gently worn second-hand clothes there at great prices. Just a few weeks ago I found a beautiful pair of Gucci high heels at a crazy price! So were were in Savers and my girls were having a blast trying on dresses. Some were great, others left a lot to be desired. We didn’t find the “it” dress yet but we still have time. Did you enjoy your Sunday? I sure did mine!
Eva Santiago 