Poetry Like Bread

by Espada, Martin

• ISBN13: 9781880684740
• ISBN10: 1880684748
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-09-01
• Publisher: Curbstone Pr

Summary

From the Introduction to a Discussion Guide by Hugh Blumenfeld Poetry Like Bread contains poems by nearly forty poets published by the Curbstone Press during the last twenty years. These poets are probably unlike any you have studied. Their engagement with everyday political and economic realities is as direct as a newspaper, their language as familiar as conversation. Their motto, taken from Roque Dalton for the title of the collection, is that "poetry, like bread, is for everyone." These poems were not written to be studied. They were meant to be read. Or better yet, heard. Whole or in part. Alone or among friends and strangers. Reading and hearing them, you must respond and react. Some may inspire you, knock the wind out of you--make you indignant, sad, joyous, ashamed. Whether you drop this book, seek out others, join a social action group, write letters to your elected representatives, or write poems of your own, your reaction to the poems will be as political as the poems themselves. Some of the subjects of these poems may be unfamiliar to you, or very familiar to you. Many relate stories from war-torn Central and South America, where U. S. policy has had a huge impact on people's lives. The rest are the voices of the voiceless here in the U.S.: Latinos and African Americans, Vietnam veterans and Vietnamese, prison inmates, blue collar workers, migrant workers, women, the homeless. It's the poet's job to open up and validate these worlds to us. Our job, once roused, is to learn. To learn and to act. Review of Poetry Like Bread "Strength and integrity...unify these writers as they speak passionately on issues common to all countries."-Publishers Weekly "The poems here are full of surprises, grand themes grounded in the painful and triumphant particulars of each poet's life."-The Nation "These are poems not so much of witness and survival as of defiance and resistance."-The Progressive "Poetry Like Bread is an engrossing, readable, and highly passionate poetry anthology....It gives us poetry that sustains, that nourishes, and that is available to all. This a book that gives me hope for the futu

Table of Contents

Prefatory Note	3	(1)
Rigoberta Menchu
Dedicatory Poem
Rigoberta Menchu
Patria abnegada	4	(1)
My Martyred Homeland	5	(4)
Foreword	9	(298)
Martin Espada
Claribel Algeria
Ars Poetica	16	(1)
Ars Poetica	17	(1)
Visitas nocturnas	18	(1)
Nocturnal Visits	19	(1)
Los rios	20	(1)
The Rivers	21	(3)
Carmen Bomba	24	(1)
Carmen Bomba: Poet	25	(1)
Desde el puente	26	(1)
From the Bridge	27	(7)
Doug Anderson
Blues for Unemployed Mercenaries	34	(4)
The Torturer's Apprentice	38	(2)
Colonial Album	40	(2)
Town Meeting	42	(1)
Naomi Ayala
Poverty	43	(2)
Lawns	45	(1)
Sweeping	46	(1)
The Night I Walk into Town	47	(1)
Jimmy Santiago Baca
What's Happening	48	(3)
I Applied for the Board	51	(1)
Who Understands Me But Me	52	(2)
Ah Rain!	54	(1)
Steel Doors of Prison	55	(1)
Gioconda Belli
La sangre de otros	56	(1)
The Blood of Others	57	(1)
In Memoriam	58	(1)
In Memoriam	59	(3)
Conjuncion	62	(1)
Conjunction	63	(3)
Kevin Bowen
Incoming	66	(1)
Playing Basketball with Viet Cong	67	(1)
Gelatin Factory	68	(2)
In the Village of Yen So	70	(1)
Banking Lesson, 1970	71	(1)
Ferruccio Brugnaro
Non Vedra Mai Piu Forse	72	(1)
Maybe He'll Never See Again	73	(1)
Non Ditemi Di Non Disturbarvi	74	(1)
Don't Tell Me Not To Bother You	75	(1)
Julia de Burgos
A Julia de Burgos	76	(1)
To Julia de Burgos	77	(3)
Las voces de los muertos	80	(1)
The Voices of the Dead	81	(7)
Ernesto Cardenal
Ecologia	88	(1)
Ecology	89	(3)
Las loras	92	(1)
The Parrots	93	(1)
Las campesinas del Cua	94	(1)
The Peasant Women from Cua	95	(3)
John Carey
Hartford Daylight	98	(1)
To a Cautious Poet	99	(1)
Otto Rene Castillo
Frente al balance, manana	100	(1)
Before the Scales, Tomorrow	101	(1)
Intelectuales apoliticos	102	(1)
Apolitical Intellectuals	103	(3)
Vamonos patria a caminar	106	(1)
Let's Go, Country	107	(7)
Leo Connellan
Amelia, Mrs. Brooks of My Old Childhood	114	(10)
Roque Dalton
Para un mejor amor	124	(1)
Toward a Better Love	125	(3)
Como tu	128	(1)
Like You	129	(1)
Sobre el negocio biblico	130	(1)
On Biblical Business	131	(1)
La certeza	132	(1)
The Certainty	133	(1)
Nguyen Duy
Dat Do-Nuoc Xanh	134	(1)
Red Earth-Blue Water	135	(1)
Buoi Sand Sau Chien Tranh	136	(1)
The Morning After the War Was Over	137	(1)
Do Len	138	(1)
Do Len	139	(1)
Martin Espada
La tumba de Buenaventura Roig	140	(1)
La tumba de Buenaventura Roig	141	(3)
Federico's Ghost	144	(1)
El fantasma de Federico	145	(3)
Jorge the Church Janitor Finally Quits	148	(1)
Por fin renuncia Jorge el conserje de la iglesia	149	(3)
Don Gordon
The Scientist	152	(1)
Neighborhood Watch	153	(1)
Sea of Tranquility	154	(1)
Maketa Groves
At Saint Anthony's	155	(1)
For Pablo Neruda	156	(1)
Joan Joffe Hall
Among The Yurok	157	(1)
Juan Felipe Herrera
9:40pm	158	(1)
3:45am	159	(1)
Jack Hirschman
Human Interlude	160	(1)
In Memoriam, Ray Thompson (1943-1990)	161	(2)
Undone Day	163	(2)
Haiti	165	(2)
This Neruda Earth	167	(1)
Efrain Huerta
Desconcierto	168	(1)
Confusion	169	(1)
Despliegue de asombros ante un dios	170	(1)
Unfurling of Amazements Before God	171	(1)
Teresa de Jesus
De repente	172	(1)
All of a Sudden	173	(3)
Refranes	176	(1)
Proverbs	177	(1)
Eileen Kostiner
Blood Knot	178	(1)
Mastectomy	179	(1)
Paul Laraque
Le nageur noir traverse les profondeurs bleues	180	(1)
a black swimmer crosses blue depths of underwater	181	(1)
Le grand guignol du pays ou Le pays du grand guignol	182	(1)
The Grand Guignol of Countries or Country of The Grand Guignol	183	(1)
Marianne Larsen
The Meadow	184	(1)
Cash Register	185	(2)
Ordinary Human Arms	187	(1)
Devorah Major
filmo'e street woman	188	(3)
Sarah Menefee
the blood of Colorado miners	191	(1)
you northamerican poets	192	(1)
there will be a time	193	(1)
maybe because I stand behind	194	(1)
Sara Miles
Histories: Part I Europe and America	195	(1)
Histories: Part II The New World	196	(2)
Victor Montejo
El perro	198	(1)
The Dog	199	(1)
Leroy V. Quintana
Poem for Our Dog Afraid of Thunder on a Rainy Day	200	(1)
Poem for U-Haul	201	(1)
Sharks	202	(2)
Etymology: Chicano	204	(1)
What It Was Like	205	(1)
Margaret Randall
The Gloves	206	(2)
Immigration Law	208	(1)
Luis J. Rodriguez
Then Comes a Day	209	(2)
The Concrete River	211	(4)
The Blast Furnace	215	(1)
Carrying My Tools	216	(2)
Leonel Rugama
La tierra es un satelite de la luna	218	(1)
The Earth is a Satellite of the Moon	219	(3)
Cheryl Savageau
Medicine Woman	222	(2)
Looking For Indians	224	(2)
Hanging Clothes In The Sun	226	(2)
Department of Labor Haiku	228	(1)
Why They Do It	229	(1)
Richard Schaaf
My Daddy's Tattoo	230	(1)
The Prisoners	231	(2)
James Scully
Now Sing	233	(1)
The Day of the Night	234	(2)
Toque de Queda	236	(1)
Susan Sherman
First and Last Poems	237	(2)
Edgar Gabriel Silex
Grandfather Buffalo	239	(2)
Postcard	241	(2)
Blue Cloud Rides Horses	243	(2)
William Jay Smith
The Pumpkin Field	245	(3)
The Burning of Malmaison, iii (excerpt)	248	(2)
Roberto Sosa
Los pesares juntos	250	(1)
The Common Grief	251	(1)
Recuerdos numero 1-2	252	(1)
Memories Numbers 1-2	253	(1)
Alfonso Quijada Urias
Envio	254	(1)
Dispatch	255	(1)
Las tias	256	(1)
The Aunts	257	(1)
Pobres de nosostros	258	(1)
Poor Us	259	(1)
Asesinato del campeon de polo	260	(1)
Assassination of the Polo Champ	261	(1)
Clemente Soto Velez
#3 de Caballo de palo	262	(1)
#3 from The Wooden Horse	263	(1)
#4 de Caballo de palo	264	(1)
#4 from the Wooden Horse	265	(9)
#35 de La tierra prometida	274	(1)
#35 from The Promised Land	275	(9)
Tino Villanueva
Scene from the Movie GIANT	284	(2)
The Existence of Sarge	286	(2)
Fight Scene Beginning	288	(2)
Fight Scene, Part II	290	(2)
Fight Scene: Final Frames	292	(2)
Daisy Zamora
Era una escuadra desperdigada	294	(1)
It Was a Ragged Squadron	295	(1)
Querida tia Chofi	296	(1)
Dear Aunt Chofi	297	(7)
Precisamente	304	(1)
Precisely	305	(2)
Biographical Notes	307	(12)
Reading Guide: A Companion for Readers	319
Hugh Blumenfeld