There comes a moment
When there is the connection
Between what is academic
And what is exhilarating experience
The moment of light
Between the silence of expression
And the bursting of critical consciousness
A glimpse of institutionalization
Without the loss of values
A foundation of a movement
Still fighting Goliath
The rain pattering on foreheads
Turning into a raging river
Taking everything in its way
The sounds of shovels on concrete
Of saws on fallen trees
And branches
Reaching everywhere
From the grave site
Of Cesar Chavez
To the streets of Delano
To the air waves
To Claremont
And Connection
Alongside the tired hands
But living spirit of Abayani
With Brother Pete
And rose cuttings
Planted like ideas
To grow, To grow
Alongside Magdaleno, Maria Elena,
Arturo, Paul, Abe, Rebecca, Socorro,
Helen, and so many others
Whose lives
Became a living piece
Of what was read
As history, as legend,
As a moment in time
Delano-La Paz
Clouds on hilltops
Blanketed by green
With blue sky
Breaking through
An idea of De Colores
Made a reality
With circles of song
And chains of hands,
Hearts, Minds
Never to be broken
The wisdom of leaders
Men and Women
Of Generations
From the fields
Shared with young
Open minds
Absorbing like the ground
To raindrops
Little streams
Can make a sea
To the streets of Delano
A train passing by
Making the ground shake
Giving warning
To those up ahead
The sun hides behind the clouds
But reappears-
It is always there
If one seeks to find it
The moment, I mean-
The connection, I mean-
When what is academic
Becomes the lived experience
Outside the shadows of the classroom
To that moment of light
Between the silence of expression
And the bursting of critical consciousness.
