Unguarded Thoughts
Poems of an artist and a world traveler
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
Blue Grass Kentucky Elegant twin-spired Churchill Downs I choked in frenzied mid air Let the delirious day come that Notes from My Mother Her father dead when she was eight Two brothers and two sisters Bravery, her greatest trait Life began in Lavanderos, Sampaloc Mother used to go there without shoes A bamboo house on wooden stilts Kerosene lamps and kerosene tanks
Novena masses, vows and pledges made Father, he was one of sixteen children Commerce and businesses he tried One spring day two persons became one Playing mahjong her favorite past time Soon came three more sisters
Perched on the Ohio River
Champion horses graze on blue grass
A gentle face to travel
Virgin of the highlands
Daniel Boone on the frontier
As if to begin again
In one thunderous moment
The cheering crowd becomes serious
Fire erupts on the racetrack
Fortunes wagered on Derby day
Arms and tickets flying
Infectious routing and hollering
Like mad men released from prison
Brings in trophies, ribbons and red roses
Crystal glasses fuming with bourbon
Jockeys in the profit of commerce
The fat bankers give homage
Her mother when she was five or so
Born between Saturday and Sunday
Half way in the middle of the night
In 1917?
She could turn to
Whatever battle she had to face
Not for me to trace
To know how to survive
A tennis player and swimmer she was
How best to tell her happy childhood
A street where women laboriously pounded clothes
Daily washing on the stone steps
Averting the sirens of the Second World War
Sit under a guava tree
Her face cara de caimito (face of star apple)
Round and bright green fruit
Pure white milk inside
Tropical Island on the Philippine shores
Mangoes like apple tree yards
Bantay, her watchdog sniffs
Water pumps, torn up streets, clay roads
Mosquito nets, sleeping mats, hot summers
Rice wrapped in banana leaves and shrimp bagoong
Rosary beads, long walks on her knees to the altar
Genuflecting, crossing herself three times
Faces staring in completion
Jesus of Nazarene in his crimson robe
Shrine of the Infant of Prague holding the globe
Grandfather had three wives
All at the same time
Tomorrow is Que. sera, sera
He must have struggled to keep his head up
A poor family, raised as a great thinker
Manufacturing pianos, sewing machine cabinets
Even all sizes of wooden crosses
Land deals of a dreamer negotiated here and there
Over Café Batangas on Ermita Street
First came my brother, then me
Who wanted to write, keep writing
In the old days, going to college was not for women
But mother tutored all my homework
Taking dancing lessons with Baduy
She was a graceful dancer
To father she would say
It’s good exercise and justify
Nicknamed Tatlong Maria (three Marias)
Going to different schools
Long sleeved brown and white starchy uniforms
Sampaguitas, jasmine, sounds and colors
Lavender butterfly orchids, waling-waling
Of flowers, fruits and gleeful faces
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
In Unguarded Thoughts, Lourdes Odette Ricasa has undertaken an extraordinary exploration of her travels and works of art. The book reveals her poignant side. One can feel the moment and it does not take long to feel what she expresses. Seeker of sunlight and bright skies, fascinated by light, shadows and colors, she has compiled poems written since nineteen hundred and eighty seven. By seeing through the eyes of an artist, she has also written about the enjoyment, rewards and pleasures of painting and everyday experiences in life. The depth of text is impressive in the way she has superbly presented the beauty of Spain. The Cow Bells of Monte Perdido, The Magic of Flamenco, the long and memorable sunsets at the Alhambra, the caves of Guadix and Flamboyant Seville are a few examples. Filled with the spirits of Asia, the book begins with the splendor of Angkor Wat, Cambodia and ends with the poem "Life Without Television". She emphasizes her dislike or hatred for watching television, which she considers a waste of time. This explains how she was able to accomplish her goals in life. The poems include verses of daily life in the Philippines, where she was born. In more than ten years time, Odette has left an indelible mark of her travels around the globe.
About the Author
Lourdes "Odette" Ricasa was born in Manila, Philippines, a country that was under Spanish rule for three hundred fifty years. She is better known by her nickname, Odette. Born at the end of World War II in 1945, her father was a piano maker and merchant. They had a small warehouse that imported piano parts from Germany. Factory workers assembled the parts into completed pianos. In front of the warehouse were a piano store and an art gallery, where starving artists displayed their works. Odette’s emotions were tied into these. Her mother is of mixed Chinese descent and was a housewife. Odette would insist to her dad that she would one day come to America and fulfill her dreams of travel. Both her poetry and paintings prove her as a keen observer of life in other countries and customs of the people. In 1971, she immigrated to New York and worked at Gimbel’s Department store in Manhattan. After eight months, she moved to Los Angeles. She took night classes in computer programming at East Los Angeles College. Writing, painting, and playing the piano are her favorite hobbies. She took up painting classes at the Art Institute in Manila, Pasadena City College, and the Mission Renaissance Art School in South Pasadena in Los Angeles.