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Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Searching... Author: BACA, JIMMY SANTIAGO Matches Found: 179 Baca, Jimmy Santiago Poet's Biography 179 poems available by this author 43 First Line: 6:00 a.M. %awake and leave to fish Last Line: The new invasion Variant Title(s): Invasion A SONG OF SURVIVAL Poem Text First Line: I worked as a licensed plumber, had my own tools Last Line: And the seasrch led me to my first cell in prison Subject(s): Plumbers; Prisons & Prisoners; Convicts ACCOUNTABILITY First Line: Who we are and what we do AGAINST First Line: I saw the moon at first one blue twilight Last Line: As all that I have, winds, mountains, you are free AH RAIN! Poem Text First Line: Sweet scented, dripping from eaves and darkening Last Line: My religion is rain, my anger, hate, love is rain Subject(s): Politics & Government; Rain AH RAIN! First Line: Sweet scented, dripping from eaves and darkening Last Line: I drench my body, shimmer, clothes wet, %my religion is rain, my anger, hate, love is rain Subject(s): Politics; Rain ANCESTOR Poem Text First Line: It was a time when they were afraid of him Last Line: Out of the long felt nights and days of yesterday Subject(s): Prisons & Prisoners; Convicts ANCESTOR First Line: It was a time when they were afraid of him Subject(s): Prisons And Prisoners AS CHILDREN KNOW Poem Text First Line: Elm branches radiate green heat Subject(s): Children; Childhood AS CHILDREN KNOW Poem Text First Line: Elm branches radiate green heat Subject(s): Children; Disappointment; Childhood AS CHILDREN KNOW First Line: Elm branches radiate green heat AT NIGHT First Line: I lie in bed BEDTIME STORY TO THE BOYS First Line: I lie in bed and they run after me BELLS First Line: Bells. The word gongs my skull bone BETTER LIFE First Line: My life is a lover's breathing BIRTHING WORK First Line: Adobe brick BLACK MESA First Line: The northern most u-tip BODY First Line: Feeling the bars Last Line: Will be blind in our world BY INVITATION OF MY SOUL First Line: I have been struggling to do as I could in my Last Line: And feed it to my pet cockroaches in my cell CHILD OF THE SUN-GABRIEL'S BIRTH (SUN PRAYER) First Line: Beatrice on the bed, muscles twitch pain CHOICES First Line: An acquaintance at los angeles labs CLOUDY DAY Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: It is windy today. A wall of wind crashes against Subject(s): Disappointment; Crime & Criminals CLOUDY DAY First Line: It is windy today. A wall of wind crashes against Last Line: I feel as if I have everything, everything CONFUSED AND AMAZED AGAIN First Line: The rat-tat-tat of hammers Last Line: To breathe out the next dawn COUNT-TIME First Line: Everybody to sleep the guard symbolizes Last Line: Under dreamlike waterfalls, %in the silence COUNTY JAIL First Line: Men late at night cook coffee in rusty cans Last Line: Will get up and leave the circle, %return to his bunk Subject(s): Prisons And Prisoners CRYING POEM Poem Text First Line: For the longest time CUSTOM First Line: Juan umphs cinch comfortably taut DAILY JOY TO BE ALIVE First Line: No matter how serene DAY BRUSHES ITS CURTAINS ASIDE First Line: To a dark stage Last Line: As it went deeper and deeper into my heart DAY'S BLOOD First Line: I toss yesterday's tortillas DESIRE First Line: Out of the barbwire, the walls, the timeless days Last Line: Into all that I was not DRAWING LIGHT First Line: Ill-tempered loafer DREAM COME EARLY First Line: Odds %were astronomical DREAM INSTRUCTIONS First Line: While in bed, dreams came DREAMING ABOUT FREEDOM First Line: What I would be doing if I were out Last Line: Beautiful thoughts and feelings, like wild birds %so easily scared away by the sound of closing cage DUST-BOWL MEMORY First Line: My ancient neighbor, mr. Abaskin EL GATO Poem Text First Line: At eight Subject(s): Chicanos; Mexican Americans EL SAPO First Line: Around the bend on black mesa loop ESE CHICANO First Line: Behind bars you stand FALL First Line: Somber hue diffused on everything FAMILY TIES First Line: Mountain barbecue FIELD OF CLOVER First Line: Evelyn dreamed FROM VIOLENCE TO PEACE Poem Text First Line: Twenty-eight shotgun pellets Subject(s): Crime & Criminals; Grief; Death; Chicanos; Sorrow; Sadness; Dead, The; Mexican Americans FROM VIOLENCE TO PEACE First Line: Twenty-eight shotgun pellets GOD LOOSENED First Line: I walk along the acequia GOD'S COMING First Line: I await the burning books GOOD DAY First Line: Saturday %freckled leaves after rain GREEN CHILE First Line: I prefer red chile over my eggs Last Line: We relive this old, beautiful ritual again and again GREGORIO CORTEZ First Line: I wept when the sheriff escorted you on the train HANDSOME WORLD First Line: The handsome, broad-shouldered world, with Last Line: From now on, I scream and howl and love and laugh, I am me HEALING EARTHQUAKES (1) First Line: (8 years old) Last Line: With the limb-top buoyancy %of my awakening in the storm HEALING EARTHQUAKES (2) First Line: Through little garden plots I was mesmerized by Last Line: A man awaking to the day with ground to stand upon HITCHHIKER Poem Text First Line: Driving home tonight Last Line: With the chalky pumice of his heart Subject(s): Loss HITCHHIKER First Line: Driving home tonight Subject(s): Loss HOW WE CARRY OURSELVES Poem Text First Line: I am the broken reed in this deathly organ Last Line: Turning yourself on. Subject(s): Prisons & Prisoners; Convicts HOW WE CARRY OURSELVES First Line: I am the broken reed in this deathly organ Last Line: But you are breathing, smiling, struggling, %turning yourself on Subject(s): Prisons And Prisoners I AM HERE First Line: I stopped my car on gibson avenue Last Line: I am here I AM OFFERING THIS POEM Poem Text First Line: I am offering this poem to you Subject(s): Poetry & Poets; Love I AM OFFERING THIS POEM First Line: I am offering this poem to you Last Line: Remember, %-- I love you I AM SURE OF IT Poem Text First Line: Just after supper sheets were passed out Last Line: Close or far away, it doesn't matter, I am sure of it Subject(s): Prisons & Prisoners; Convicts I AM SURE OF IT First Line: Just after supper sheets were passed out Subject(s): Prisons And Prisoners I AM WHO I AM First Line: You ask me what has happened to the woman I love Last Line: In this way finding out who we are I AM WITH THOSE First Line: Whose blood has spilled on streets too often Last Line: Most powerful and full of extreme beauty and body I APPLIED FOR THE BOARD Poem Text First Line: A flight of fancy and breath of fresh air Last Line: And partly fvom the joy that it was over Subject(s): Poetry & Poets; Politics & Government I APPLIED FOR THE BOARD First Line: A flight of fancy and breath of fresh air Last Line: Gush forth in my breast, partly from the wound, %and partly from the joy that it was over Subject(s): Poetry And Poets; Politics I ASK MYSELF, SHOULD I CRY? OR LAUGH First Line: I am like a glossy green leaf, sticking out Last Line: This poem is for you, my one I PASS LA IGLESIA I WILL REMAIN First Line: I don't want to leave any more or get transferred Last Line: Of the dying, of the young so old old, of the broken ones IMMIGRANTS IN OUR OWN LAND Poem Text First Line: We are born with dreams in our hearts Last Line: So long gone from life itself, so many things have changed Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; Social Problems; United States - Race Relations IMMIGRANTS IN OUR OWN LAND First Line: We are born with dreams in our hearts Last Line: So long gone from life itself, so many things have changed Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; Social Problems; U.s. - Race Relations IN MY LAND First Line: Time gets lost. You see it Last Line: Of love, to live IN THE DESERT First Line: In the desert there is a rain Last Line: Among the bones %in the desert INFLUENCES First Line: I have missed so much of life INTO DEATH BRAVELY Poem Text First Line: Winter/throws his great white shield Subject(s): Winter; Death; Dead, The INTO DEATH BRAVELY First Line: Winter %throws his great white shield IT GOES BY MANY NAMES First Line: And behind the eyeball it sucks it empty Last Line: Where now we imprison our brothers and sisters IT STARTED Poem Text First Line: A little state-funded barrack Last Line: Of our meeting, our friendship Subject(s): Prisons & Prisoners; Convicts IT STARTED First Line: A little state-funded barrack Subject(s): Prisons And Prisoners IT WOULD BE NEAT IF WITH THE NEW YEAR Poem Text Subject(s): Solitude IT'S GOING TO BE A COLD WINTER First Line: A batch of new guards, trained to sniff out Last Line: Escaped tigers bursting from my cage, to tell me, okay JAGUAR HEAD First Line: Healed enough months later JEWELRY STORE First Line: After work, when supper lights and slippers Last Line: Drowns me in its love. I walk down the street JOE First Line: They just brought us breakfast. My celly wakes up Last Line: And stand at your side if ever you need me KNOWING THE SNOW ANOTHER WAY First Line: Last snowfall of winter KNOWING WHEN First Line: Sun buries its face LEAPS First Line: Carrots, rice and lamb ribs LIKE AN ANIMAL Poem Text First Line: Behind the smooth texture Last Line: Behind these prison walls Subject(s): Prisons & Prisoners; Convicts LIKE AN ANIMAL First Line: Behind the smooth texture Last Line: Of me, the real me, %behind these prison walls Subject(s): Prisons And Prisoners LISTENING TO JAZZ NOW Poem Text First Line: Listening to jazz now, I'm happy Subject(s): Jazz LLANO VAQUEROS Poem Text First Line: Padilla unloads mangy herd of mexican Subject(s): Cowboys; Ancestors & Ancestry; Heritage; Heredity LLANO VAQUEROS First Line: Padilla unloads mangy herd of mexican cattle LOVE POEM: 1 First Line: We threw the wounded fragments Last Line: Finally giving up all hope, %I saw us. %the hail shredded the flower LOVE POEM: 2 First Line: But the first year Last Line: Hail shreds the flower %and brings the horses to their knees LOVE POEM: 3 First Line: And after days of hate Last Line: I extract it, clean and easy, %and have learned LOVE POEM: 4 First Line: Man rage is the unpicked fruit rotting on the branch Last Line: Man rage is breakdown and death if we cannot express it LOVE POEM: 5 First Line: We men are returning home Last Line: In our male song, ahoa, grandfather! %ahoa! MAIN CHARACTER Poem Text First Line: I want to see Subject(s): Motion Pictures; West (u.s.); Movies; Cinema; Southwest; Pacific States MAIN CHARACTER First Line: I went to see %'how the west was won' Last Line: Looking for the main character MARTIN First Line: Pinos wells MATANZA TO WELCOME SPRING Poem Text First Line: Spread eagle sheep legs wide Subject(s): Spring; Sheep; Death; Birth; Dead, The; Child Birth; Midwifery MATANZA TO WELCOME SPRING First Line: Spread eagle sheep legs wide Last Line: Thumba thumba thumba %ba -- ba -- ba %of living MEDITATIONS ON THE SOUTH VALLEY First Line: Disbelief %numbed me MEDITATIONS ON THE SOUTH VALLEY, PART XXIII Poem Text First Line: Pancho, the barrio idiot Subject(s): Fantasy; Mental Retardation; Barrios MI TIO BACA EL POETA DE SOCORRO First Line: Antonio ce de baca %chiseled on stone chunk gravemarker Last Line: Wishing, like you, I could believe them NEW WARDEN First Line: He sat in the cool morning Last Line: One old convict ended up marrying the governor's mother Subject(s): Prisons And Prisoners NEWS First Line: Just drove back from town OLD MAN First Line: My heart was once an elementary OLD WOMAN First Line: I see senora sanchez ON A SEPTEMBER DAY First Line: I stand listening to a young man Last Line: Trying to run the ache out of my heart ON BLOOD AND BONE First Line: Antonio awakens, waddles OPPRESSION Poem Text First Line: Is a question of strength Subject(s): Racism; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry OPPRESSION First Line: Is a question of strength Last Line: Endure my brothers, endure my sisters OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN First Line: Distant to friends PAINTERS First Line: The painters paint over my shoes Last Line: My exile, from the painters Subject(s): Assimilation PERFECTO FLORES First Line: We banter %back and forth PERSONAL PRAYERS First Line: On a red wagon PICKING PINONS First Line: On my knees POEM 23, SELS. First Line: Panco, the barrio idiot Last Line: You always fill my heart pancho %with delight POEM 6, SELS. First Line: Cruising back from 7-11 Last Line: With everything perfect PRAISE First Line: From isleta pueblo church ROOTS First Line: Ten feet beyond the back door RUDE Poem Text First Line: Life is so rude to me. Leaves my head Last Line: Telling you the truth of what you long tried to hide Subject(s): Life RUDE First Line: Life is so rude to me. Leaves my head Last Line: Telling you the truth of what you long tried to hide Subject(s): Life SANCTUARY Poem Text First Line: I could not disengage my world Subject(s): Survival; Chicanos; Mexican Americans SANCTUARY First Line: I could not dissengage my world SEPTEMBER First Line: I browse the chill fields and notice again SINCE YOU'VE COME First Line: You make %a thousand expressions of distaste SLEEPING CONVICTS IN THE CELLBLOCK Poem Text First Line: They dream the sun rising abaove carved cliffs Last Line: As it swoops out a broken window Subject(s): Prisons & Prisoners; Convicts SLEEPING CONVICTS IN THE CELLBLOCK First Line: They dream the sun rising abaove carved cliffs Last Line: As it swoops out a broken window Subject(s): Prisons And Prisoners SMALL FARMER First Line: Yessum, I'm a farmer Subject(s): Farm Life SMALL MAN First Line: This morning I visited de leon Last Line: And I with so many questions SMOKING MIRRORS First Line: I come out of the south, %from the darkness Last Line: We imagine the story %with a kinder ending SO MEXICANS ARE TAKING JOBS FROM AMERICANS Poem Text First Line: O yes? Do they come on horses Last Line: And the children too Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; United States - Race Relations SO MEXICANS ARE TAKING JOBS FROM AMERICANS First Line: O yes? Do they come on horses Last Line: What they really say is, let them die, %and the children too Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; U.s. - Race Relations SONG OF SURVIVAL First Line: I worked as a licensed plumber, had my own tools Last Line: Speak, when I move boulders from the path I wish to take Subject(s): Plumbers; Prisons And Prisoners SPRING First Line: With one mighty tug and push, conservancy engineers STEEL DOORS OF PRISON Poem Text First Line: The big compound gates close the world off Last Line: Slowly swallowing you Subject(s): Politics & Government; Prisons & Prisoners; Convicts STEEL DOORS OF PRISON First Line: The big compound gates close the world off Last Line: You hear nothing but the steel jaws close, %slowly swallowing you Subject(s): Politics; Prisons And Prisoners STONY, FIFTEEN YEARS IN THE JOINT First Line: Fifteen years in the joint Last Line: That is just part of the rules SUMMER First Line: In the morning I throw water over my face Last Line: Take our shirts off, and set our feet squarely in the dirt SUN ON THOSE First Line: The sun on those green palm trees, lining Last Line: Know, as the tree knows, where I come from, who is my father SUN PRAYER, FR. CHILD OF THE SUN - GABRIEL'S BIRTH First Line: She gives a half-choked sob Last Line: Its dark eyes squinch-lidded %unwrinkle wide in haunting ferocity SWEET REVENGE First Line: Kirtland airforce jets THE COUNTY JAIL Poem Text First Line: Men late at night cook coffee in rusty cans Last Line: Return to his bunk Subject(s): Prisons & Prisoners; Convicts THE NEW WARDEN Poem Text First Line: He sat in the cool morning Last Line: One old convict ended up marrying the governor’s mother Subject(s): Prisons & Prisoners; Convicts THE PAINTERS Poem Text First Line: The painters paint over my shoes Last Line: My exile, from the painters Subject(s): Assimilation THE SHOP Poem Text First Line: I went down yesterday Subject(s): Chicanos; Mexican Americans THERE ARE BLACK Poem Text First Line: There are black guards slamming cell gates on black men Subject(s): Prisons & Prisoners; Race Awareness; Convicts THERE ARE BLACK First Line: There are black guards slamming cell gates on black men Last Line: You are looking at them THERE'S ME First Line: There's me & thelma & louie & lisa Last Line: We'll make it, look out for each other THIS DAY Poem Text First Line: I feel foolish Subject(s): Life THROUGH THE STREETS First Line: Friday night whistles at young ladies, and Last Line: Horses feed in the fields. And already we are thinking TO COME LIVE WITH ME First Line: Was my wish. How funny that I didn't think Last Line: Where one remembers the lust of youth as love so warm TO MINE OWN SELF Poem Text First Line: My hands the hook thunder hangs its hat on Subject(s): Self TO MY OWN SELF Poem Text First Line: My hands the -- hook thunder hangs its hat on Last Line: My soul song of all life Subject(s): Self TO MY OWN SELF First Line: My hands the -- hook thunder hangs its hat on Last Line: My soul the -- song of all life Subject(s): Self TOMAS LUCERO First Line: I wept when the police escorted you to the train TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING Poem Text Subject(s): Weather; Farm Life; Agriculture; Farmers TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING First Line: Snow's been melting too soon TOWARD THE LIGHT First Line: Few inches beneath UNITY OF HEARTS First Line: Fan blades, propellers beating Last Line: In rusty old trucks and cars V Poem Text First Line: Years pass Subject(s): Chicanos; Mexican Americans VOZ DE LA GENTE First Line: I went to river last night Last Line: Until I play the drum WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN AND WHAT IS First Line: Beatrice nurses gabriel WHAT IS BROKEN IS WHAT GOD BLESSES Poem Text First Line: The lover's footprint in the sand Subject(s): Resilience WHAT WE DON'T TELL THE CHILDREN First Line: Feathers in the yard this morning WHAT'S HAPPENING Poem Text First Line: At this moment, fires of a riot are everywhere Last Line: Viva la huelga! Subject(s): Politics & Government; Prisons & Prisoners; Convicts WHAT'S HAPPENING First Line: At this moment, fires of a riot are everywhere Last Line: And I weep! My eyes burn! My lungs are black with smoke! Subject(s): Politics; Prisons And Prisoners WHAT'S REAL AND WHAT'S NOT First Line: Bob greases himself up WHEN LIFE Poem Text First Line: Is cut close, blades and bones Subject(s): Stoicism WHEN LIFE First Line: Is cut close, blades and bones Last Line: And a quiet half-dead dream WHO UNDERSTANDS ME BUT ME Poem Text First Line: They turn the water off, so I live without water Last Line: Who understands me when I say this is beautiful? Subject(s): Politics & Government WHO UNDERSTANDS ME BUT ME First Line: They turn the water off, so I live without water Last Line: Who understands me when I say this is beautiful? Subject(s): Politics WIND First Line: Morning darkened by a light night train WISHES Poem Text First Line: As spring ends today, this morning Last Line: As they run out the screen door to play Subject(s): Wishes WISHES First Line: As spring ends today, this morning Subject(s): Wishes WORK WE HATE AND DREAMS WE LOVE First Line: Every morning YESTERDAY Poem Text First Line: Yesterday, the sunshine made the air glow Subject(s): Love; Poetry & Poets |
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