Our Community Will Heal

by Catherine Giordano  

The front page
of the Orlando Sentinel

The horror.

The outrage.

The grief.

The worst mass shooting

in American history.

A heinous act of brutality.

A massacre of 50 souls.

The wounding of dozens more.

A community in mourning.

Coming together,

To honor and remember the dead,

To comfort their families

Orlando

Uniting, Enduring,

in the midst of tragedy.

Orlando strong!

© Catherine Giordano

June 2012

Every now and then, something so noteworthy happens that I feel compelled to make note of it with a news print poem.  The terrorist attack on a nightclub in Orlando, Florida in the early hours of Sunday morning (around 2 AM), June 12, 2016 was that type of event. On the following Monday, The Orlando Sentinel printed a front page stand-alone editorial which became the basis of this poem. 

Die Hard and Devoted

This is what you have
Orlando Magic fans:
The players who want to play for you.
I love this team.
I love this town.

This is what you have

Orlando Magic players:
The fans who want to cheer for you.
The die-hards and the devoted.
The firm and the faithful.

After Dwight.

After Desertion
After Depression.

Fans and players

celebrating the beginning
of a new era.

 The opening game of the regular season was played last night.  The Magic won beating the Denver Nuggets 102 to 89.

 

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

 

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This picture is from http://www.floridahomesearch.com

Wheels

This picture of the London Eye observation wheel is from wikimedia.org

Orlando,
reinventing the wheel,
the giant observation wheel,
for Orlando’s International Drive.

Observation wheels:

The Seattle Great Wheel.
The Myrtle Beach Sky Wheel.
Icons du jour.

The massive London Eye,

hundreds of feet taller 
than a standard ferris wheel.

Check out the sights
to see in London

Large enclosed capsules,

holding up to 40 people—
quasi rides;
quasi social hubs.

You can have a party.

Anybody
can ride, from the youngest
to the oldest.

In Las Vegas,

the High Roller and the Skyvue.
In Orlando,
the I-Drive Live Wheel.

Huge observation wheels, resembling a ferris wheel, but as tall as a sky scraper.   It might be fun to ride one, but on second thought, even normal ferris wheels make me nervous.  Maybe I’ll just keep my feet on old terra firma and watch.
 

2012 Catherine Giordano

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Please use the links to amazon.com on tihs page.

Lady Liberty

Click Here to order a replica
for your home or office

Orlando’s Statue of Liberty
perches
  on a pedestal
    across from Lake Ivanhoe.

Orlando’s Lady Liberty

holds  
  her torch aloft
    as drivers zoom by.

Orlando’s Lady Liberty

watches
  over a busy
     intersection at Interstate 4.

The statue, a replica

of the original
in New York harbor.

A symbol of freedom,

Orlando's Lady Liberty.

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Orlando’s Statue of Liberty is only a little over eight feet tall.  The statue is one of about 200 replicas installed across the country in the 1950’s as part of a Boy Scout program called “Strengthening the Arm of Liberty.”

 

© 2012 Catherine Giordano



Chocolate Kingdom

I found this picture of "Chocolate Castle, "
a video game, at www.maczot.com

A new attraction
coming to Osceola County,
Chocolate Kingdom.

A green house with cocoa trees,
a chocolate museum,
and chocolate bars.

People can see

how the bean,
turns into chocolate bars
on the tour

Order Some Gourmet Chocolate

for chocolate lovers.

People can see

the history
of the delicacy.

Chocolate Kingdom.  Yum. I visited Hershey’s Chocolate World in Hershey Pennsylvania years ago.  Chocolate Kingdon may be more adult oriented.  It opens in November 2012.

 

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

Apparently, there is a video game called "Chocolate Castle."  Who knew?  I learn so many things while working on my news print poetry project. 

If you can't visit Chocolate Kingdom, create your own chocolate kingdom right on your couch. Order some chocolate from amazon.cm

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Dandelion Café

Dandelion Communitea Café,
the antithesis of corporate.

On the façade and windows,

painted psychedelic green,
liberal, new-age buzz words.

Organic. Vegan.  Holistic.

Recycling. Fair trade. Bicycling.
Urban Teahouse. Eco Attitude.

Dandelion’s philosophy:

Be the change you wish
to see in the world.

And the food tastes good.

In a world of uniformity, Dandelion Communitea Café is an example of charmingly quirky individualism.  An urban teahouse steeped in liberal attitude. Good vibe. Good food.

It's on Thornton Avenue just off Colonial Drive.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

I found this picture at http://www.instablogsimages.com

Magic Fans Glum: Dwight Departs

Sadness.
That is all.
Just sadness.
Heartbreaking sadness.

Not anger.

Not blame.
Not even relief.
Not now.

Magic fans,

forced to say goodbye
to Dwight Howard,
the greatest player
in the franchise’s history.

Orlando,

the saddest sports city
in America.
The Lakers got Dwight.

It hurts so bad.

This is from Mike Bianchi’s column.  He made my job easy today with his poetic language.

 

Dwight was nicknamed “Superman” and was considered to be the greatest basketball player of all time.  And he played for my hometown team, the Orlando Magic, for ten years.

One more thing.  If you stop going to Magic games, take the money you would have spent on tickets to the game, and spend it downtown.  The downtown businesses need your patronage.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

I found this picture at http://i.newsarama.com

Orlando Connects

Coming together.
Networking, connecting,
getting to know each other.

Orlando is a very young city,

at a pivotal point in history—
Florida Hospital’s Health Village,

The upcoming Creative Village,

SunRail, and other great projects.
People here want to be connected.

The community has the capability

to be one of the most significant
metropolitan areas in the Southeast.

Things that make sense

for Orlando
are finally happening.

Orlando has the tools,

the brain power,
and people willing

to take that leap.

It’s an exciting time,
to be in Orlando.

Orlando is a very exciting place to live.  I moved to Orlando in 1995 and I have watched the city grow. The Greater Orlando area has a population of around one million. From the beginning I have said Orlando is small enough to have that small-town feeling, but big enough to be cosmopolitan.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano 

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Arena Falls

A series of explosions.

A rumble that shook downtown.

Cheers from hundreds of people.

The demise of an Orlando icon.

A quick series of small blasts.

Charges severing the roof.

Flashes of flame.

The Amway Arena toppled.

A huge plume of dust.

A pile of rubble.

She didn’t go down easy.

She didn’t give up.

The Orlando Arena,

once known as O-rena

demolished to make way

for the Creative Village.

Sporting events, concerts,

family shows, high-school graduations,

Magic games and the circus—

The demolition was one last show.

The Amway Arena (that I will always remember by its original name O-rena) died so Creative Village (a center dedicated to the arts) could be born. The Arena is dead!  Long live The Village.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

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Orlando Through Writer's Eyes

The buzz of Orlando's Little Vietnam.
The chilly depths of Wekiva Springs.
A new book shines a light
on the Central Florida
that lives in Mickey's shadow.

The book is coming out the end of April with a collection of 101 of the 2012 first quarter poems. I'm taking down the posts, but I'll leave the first stanza of each poem.

Medical City

At Lake Nona,
rising like the Land of Oz,
comes a surprise.

The book is coming out the end of April with a collection of 101 of the 2012 first quarter poems. I'm taking down the posts, but I'll leave the first stanza of each poem.

Arctic Blast



CLICK HERE
for your own personal weather station

Central Florida residents

who long for a touch of winter

are about to get their wish.

.

Temperature plummeting.

Freeze warnings.

Wind chill advisory.

A pretty cold shot of air.

The high Tuesday--50 degrees.

…Or less!

By Wednesday afternoon,

things will start warming up.

©2012 Catherine Giordano

For a couple of years, I lived in upstate New York, near the Bershires area of Massachusetts.In the winter, it was sometimes -5º  Now that I live in Central Florida, I think I’m freezing if the temperature dips to 50º

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

01/03/2014 Update: This year, it has been a record breaking heat wave with highs in the 90’s in Orlando Florida. . But they will be heading back down to a more seasonal 70’s.  The clock shown above is your own personal weather station for about $10.

 

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