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Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Searching... Author: MORA, PAT Matches Found: 330 Mora, Pat Poet's Biography 330 poems available by this author 1910 First Line: In mexico they bowed Last Line: That had been upton's five-and-dime 1992 First Line: The story always wakes us Last Line: I tell my daughter, ay ay. Don't let them %near the edge. Watch the children A CHILD, A CHILD Poem Text First Line: You held your breath Subject(s): Chicanos; Mexican Americans A RIVER OF WOMEN Poem Text Subject(s): Women ABUELITA MAGIC First Line: The new mother cries with her baby Last Line: Ts. Ss %with sleep ABUELITA'S ACHE First Line: Celia watches him with the green eyes Last Line: Like I did when I rocked her to sleep in my arms, %rru-rru-que-rru-rru %lullabies she will need soon AGIO NERO Poem Text First Line: Finding a spring, a holy act Subject(s): Chicanos; Mexican Americans AGIO NERO First Line: Finding a spring, a holy act Last Line: Holy, holy, holy Subject(s): Chicanos AGUA NEGRA Poem Text First Line: I see her shadow Subject(s): Chicanos; Mexican Americans AGUA NEGRA First Line: I see her shadow Last Line: What falls from the sky Subject(s): Chicanos ANOTHER BROWN MAN Poem Text First Line: Startling as blood Subject(s): Chicanos; Mexican Americans ANOTHER BROWN MAN First Line: Startling as blood Last Line: Only a shadow %like yours Subject(s): Chicanos ARBOLES DE MAIZ First Line: She smiled in the dark Last Line: Seeing cornstalks taller than saguaros %or even the agave in bloom ARMADILLOS, POUR JUICES! Last Line: Amigos, tonight we'll swing %without any sleepiness Subject(s): Desert Animals ARMFULS OF COLOR Last Line: Of plinging guitar strings Subject(s): Desert Animals ARTE POPULAR First Line: A hot breath among the pale crystal Last Line: Leap down steps three at a time, slither %on cool white marble into the night, into the full moon ARTISTA CUBANO First Line: Years ago pepe came from the fields Last Line: And a face appears, sea eyes, a blue he can float in %oye verde, oye azul AURELIA: MOON JELLIES Poem Text First Line: Without brain or eye or heart Subject(s): Chicanos; Mexican Americans AURELIA: MOON JELLIES First Line: Without brain or eye or heart Last Line: Depths where we begin Subject(s): Chicanos AZTEC PRINCESS First Line: Her mother would say, look in Last Line: And carried outside to the moonlight %whispering, 'breathe' BAILANDO Poem Text First Line: Bailando / I will remember you dancing Subject(s): Dancing & Dancers BAILANDO First Line: I will remember you dancing Last Line: But saying to me, 'estoy bailando,' %and laughing BALLENA Poem Text First Line: Are you terrified of drowning Last Line: Where it can't breathe Subject(s): Drowning BALLENA First Line: Are you terrified of drowning Last Line: Where it can't breathe Subject(s): Chicanos BEES BUZZ RIPE FRUIT Last Line: Setting the table %for the hullabaloo Subject(s): Desert Animals BELOW THE SURFACE First Line: The man journeyed into the green hum Last Line: We live alone and sometimes to save ourselves, %we have to rip our wounds open with our bare hands BESHAM QILA, PAKISTAN First Line: Dusk: lights like fireflies Last Line: Massive, hunched %like the shoulders %of a stubborn man BILINGUAL CHRISTMAS First Line: Buenos dias and hasta luego Last Line: Outside our thick windows BORDER TOWN: 1938 Poem Text First Line: She counts cement tracks Subject(s): Schools; Chicanos; Segregation; Students; Mexican Americans BORDER TOWN: 1938 First Line: She counts cement cracks Last Line: Counts cement cracks %ocho, nueve, diez BOSQUE DEL APACHE WILDLIFE REFUGE First Line: If the earth's old bones smile Last Line: White neck flowing, flowing %into desert grasses %white flowing %into the smile of old bones BRAIDED Poem Text First Line: Rain, rattle of shells Subject(s): Chicanos; Mexican Americans BRAIDED First Line: Rain, rattle of shells Last Line: Echoes rippling through currents, crossing, crisscrossing Subject(s): Chicanos BRIBE First Line: I hear indian women Last Line: I ask the land to smile on me, to croon %softly, to help me catch her music with words BRUJA: WITCH First Line: I wait for the owl. %I wait for tuesday and thursday nights Last Line: I smell mesquite. Beneath white %stars, I dance CASTANET CLICKS First Line: Uno, dos %one, two Last Line: Count again Subject(s): Castanets CEREZAS DULCES Last Line: For our fiesta evening.' Subject(s): Desert Animals CHILD, A CHILD First Line: You held your breath Last Line: At long last, let the celebration begin Subject(s): Chicanos CHUPARROSA: HUMMINGBIRD First Line: I buy magic meat Last Line: I sleep %to escape your gaze CISSY IN A BONNET First Line: You wore your brain backwards Last Line: Break the code, with our fingers read our early %symbols, reunite with the rare spirits we house CLEVER TWIST Poem Text First Line: The best revenge is Subject(s): Revenge COATLICUE'S RULES: ADVICE FROM AN AZTEC GODDESS Poem Text First Line: Rule 1: beware of offers to make you famous Subject(s): Chicanos; Mary. Mother Of Jesus; Mexico; Women In The Bible; Mexican Americans; Virgin Mary COATLICUE'S RULES: ADVICE FROM AN AZTEC GODDESS First Line: Rule 1: beware of offers to make you famous Last Line: Rule 9: be selective about what you swallow Subject(s): Chicanos; Mary. Mother Of Jesus; Mexico; Women - Bible CONFERENCE MALE First Line: Why aren't they hoarse Last Line: Each tongue dancing proudly %for the bathroom mirror, %the viewer quick to clap clapclapclap? CONSEJOS DE NUESTRA SENORA DE GUADALUPE: COUNSEL FROM VIRGIN Poem Text First Line: You seem surprised that I've appeared Last Line: Immaculate and otherwise, happen. He knelt, full of me Subject(s): Chicanos; Goddesses & Gods; Mexican Americans CONSEJOS DE NUESTRA SENORA DE GUADALUPE: COUNSEL FROM VIRGIN First Line: You seem surprised that I've appeared Last Line: Como la luna esplendida Subject(s): Chicanos COOL LOVE First Line: If we were indians, in late september Last Line: We fear claiming what we may %not want to keep CORAZON DEL CORRIDO First Line: En la frontera de tejas Last Line: Ay, papa! Te cantaremos Subject(s): Chicanos CORRIDA First Line: Being the son of a proud man is bitter Last Line: When he ran-corrio-to be alone %to vomit alone CORTEZ'S HORSE First Line: Return, sweet horse, rise Last Line: Carry me into the stars Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; U.s. - Race Relations CROSSROAD Poem Text First Line: Come to me Subject(s): Love CROSSROADS First Line: Come to me Last Line: Of the charm %broken spell CUBAN REVOLUTIONARY First Line: Jose hears colors. Last Line: Oye verde, oye azul Subject(s): Chicanos CUENTISTA: STORY-TELLER Poem Text First Line: She carries a green river in her arms Last Line: And sip – from her own arms Subject(s): Rivers CUENTISTA: STORY-TELLER First Line: She carries a green river in her arms Last Line: And sip--from her own arms. %una vez: once Subject(s): Chicanos CUIDADO First Line: Humans should smell like this Last Line: Saying, ven. Smell. Smell Subject(s): Chicanos CURANDERA First Line: They think she lives alone Last Line: And breathes with the mice and snakes %and wind DAR A LUZ First Line: I am gathering myself Last Line: No, I am gathering light, not from the moon %or sun. No, I am gathering from within, %a light safe t DAYDREAMS: TRAVELER, WIFE First Line: Dozing in the warm perfume Last Line: My beak would open slowly, %hiss, hiss DEAR FRIDA First Line: We're stuck on you, on thorns you press Last Line: Hair, your hair, around your face, crackles, blazes Subject(s): Chicanos DEPRESSION DAYS (1) Poem Text First Line: He buys the dark Subject(s): Chicanos; Depressions, Economic; Mexican Americans DEPRESSION DAYS (1) First Line: He buys the dark Last Line: This country, of the price of eggs and names and skin Subject(s): Chicanos DEPRESSION DAYS (2) Poem Text First Line: I bought the dark with my last fifteen cents Last Line: This country, of the price of eggs and skin and names. Subject(s): Depressions, Economic; Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; Motion Pictures; Theater & Theaters; United States - Race Relations; Recessions; Movies; Cinema; Stage Life DESCENT INTO BOCA DEL LAGARTO First Line: With trust we enter its gaping mouth, black Last Line: Eyes open to this mundo caprichoso Subject(s): Chicanos DESERT IS MY MOTHER First Line: I say feed me Last Line: The desert is my strong mother Variant Title(s): Mi Madr DESERT MOCKINGBIRD First Line: Even on sunday Last Line: And just let the sounds slide up %and out Subject(s): Chicanos DESERT PILGRIMAGE First Line: A few more steps, old feet Last Line: Creosote leaves to soothe %sore throats, and golden %pollen crystals, incense %I burn all year to he DESERT WOMEN First Line: Desert women know %about survival Last Line: When we bloom, we stun DISCOVERED First Line: She feared his eyes Last Line: And her lover's eyes would unbutton %her dress again DIVISADERO STREET, SAN FRANCISCO First Line: I watch a woman play with light Last Line: I watch the woman, a tender %of possibilities, daily squeeze%one more stem into her plot DOMINICAN GOLD Poem Text First Line: They wade into the river Last Line: Fill with a loud light Variant Title(s): Gold Subject(s): Gold DOMINICAN GOLD First Line: They wade into the river Last Line: When their hands, dark and knobby as wet twigs, %fill with aloud light Variant Title(s): Gol Subject(s): Gold DON JAIME First Line: In the pale tangle of light and leaf Last Line: With ancient teas, pale green steam %which if inhaled with closed eyes %make us wonder %where we've DONA FELICIANA First Line: Ven. Come inside. Es mi casa Last Line: I hung my blue tin pot beside my door Subject(s): Chicanos DOUBTS Poem Text First Line: What if guys think I can't kiss because I can think? Subject(s): Self-doubt; Kisses DREAM First Line: Village women say orange blossoms melt Last Line: The flowers for my hair and whisper, %'don't tell, don't tell, don't tell' DREAM BABIES First Line: Night after night I hold them Last Line: My voice%her voice%our voice %brown, black, or white %mysterious as yeast, rises EATING CROCODILES First Line: Coconut mountains, %sticky chocolate bricks Last Line: Sweet on our lips Subject(s): Food And Eating EL ESPIRITU SANTO Poem Text First Line: The priest says, the wind, like ours, whirled Last Line: Stir in our hearts the fire of love Subject(s): Saints EL ESPIRITU SANTO First Line: The priest says, the wind, like ours, whirled Last Line: Stir in our hearts the fire of love Subject(s): Saints EL NACIMIENTO First Line: Va-mos to-dos a be-len Last Line: May hope be born again Subject(s): Saints EL RIO GRANDE Poem Text First Line: Maybe la llorona is el rio grande Subject(s): Chicanos; Rio Grande River; Mexican Americans EL RIO GRANDE First Line: Maybe la llorona is el rio grande Last Line: Like the morning star Subject(s): Chicanos EL SANTO NINO DE ATOCHA Poem Text First Line: My neighbor says she's very sorry Subject(s): Saints EL SANTO NINO DE ATOCHA First Line: My neighbor says she's very sorry Last Line: Pursuing good, wear out our shoes Subject(s): Saints ELENA Poem Text First Line: My spanish isn't enough Last Line: When my children need my help Subject(s): Chicanos; Children; Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; United States - Race Relations ELENA First Line: My spanish isn't enough Last Line: For if I stop trying, I will be deaf %when my children need my help Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; U.s. - Race Relations EMERGENCY ROOM First Line: He clothed me in bruises Last Line: You can look and touch %I m blue neck to knee %he clothed me in bruises EYE OF TEXAS First Line: Is white Last Line: The only smell is white- %tongued, twanging children FAMILY TIES First Line: Though I shop for designer jeans Last Line: Which I would add to the white stack %at the bottom of my closet FE TZOTZIL First Line: Safe in her turquoise rebozo Last Line: Entre sombras de ceniza Subject(s): Chicanos FEEDING THE WINDS Poem Text First Line: Stories pass like genes through families Subject(s): Chicanos; Mexican Americans FEEDING THE WINDS First Line: Stories pass like genes through families Last Line: To grandchildren now asleep in his words Subject(s): Chicanos FENCES Poem Text First Line: Mouths full of laughter Subject(s): Seashore; Labor & Laborers; Social Classes; Beach; Coast; Shore; Work; Workers; Caste FENCES First Line: Mouths full of laughter Last Line: My mother roared like the ocean, %'no. No. It's their beach.%it's their beach.' FIRST LOVE Poem Text First Line: Her brown eyes circle Subject(s): Love - Beginnings FIRST LOVE First Line: Her brown eyes circle Last Line: But I hide watching her %eyes circle, circle FLOOD: A HUICHOL MYTH First Line: His feet were strangers Last Line: With the leaves about the time %she stroked his cheek with her paw, %about the great rain FOR GEORGIA O'KEEFFE Poem Text First Line: I want / to walk Subject(s): O'keeffe, Georgia (1887-1986) FOR GEORGIA O'KEEFFE First Line: I want %to walk Last Line: To unfold %giant blooms Subject(s): O'keeffe, Georgia (1887-1986) FOREIGN SPOOKS First Line: Released full-blast into the autumn air Last Line: Startle sleeping farm wives, %sashaying raccoons, and even %the old harvest moon FRENZY First Line: Safe they looked Last Line: Our bodies sinking %into the smell of pineapple, mangoes, %drums, heat %heat, heat %yellow, ripe GENTLE COMMUNION Poem Text First Line: Even the long-dead are willing to move Last Line: Our own private green honey Subject(s): Language; Memory; Spirituality; Words; Vocabulary GENTLE COMMUNION First Line: Even the long-dead are willing to move Last Line: I know not to bite or chew. I wait %for the thick melt, %our private green honey Subject(s): Language; Memory GOBLIN First Line: We laughed double that night Last Line: When the wind gobbled my words GOOD-BYES First Line: How loud they are Last Line: From our heavy pulse GRADUATION MORNING First Line: She called him lucero, morning star Last Line: Tears slide down her wrinkled cheeks. %her eyes, luceros, stroke his face HEAR THE MUSIC Last Line: To bring their appetite Subject(s): Desert Animals HERE COME THE MUSICIANS Poem Text Last Line: Cecilia, que pasa? What is this? Subject(s): Family Life HERE COME THE MUSICIANS Last Line: We'll soon start to sway Subject(s): Desert Animals HONDURAN GHOSTS First Line: They look like ghosts Last Line: Of their own fingers I CAN DANCE Poem Text Subject(s): Dancing & Dancers ILLEGAL ALIEN Poem Text First Line: Socorro, you free me Subject(s): Aliens; Extraterrestrials ILLEGAL ALIEN First Line: Socorro, you free me Last Line: I am the alien here IMMIGRANTS Poem Text First Line: Wrap their babies in the american flag Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; United States - Race Relations IMMIGRANTS First Line: Wrap their babies in the american flag Last Line: Our boy, our girl, our fine american %boy our fine american girl Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; U.s. - Race Relations IN THE BLOOD Poem Text First Line: The brown-eyed child Subject(s): Grandparents; Dancing & Dancers; Children; Grandmothers; Grandfathers; Great Grandfathers; Great Grandmothers; Childhood IN THE BLOOD First Line: The brown-eyed child Last Line: To a rhythm only those %who love can hear IT MAY BE DANGEROUS Poem Text First Line: No sound. The child watches us Subject(s): Chicanos; Mexican Americans IT MAY BE DANGEROUS First Line: No sound. The child watches us Last Line: Holding a mouth in my hand. There is no sound Subject(s): Chicanos JANUARY IN CINCINNATI First Line: I unlock a cold house Last Line: And laugh, lips round, red tongues loud in the sun Subject(s): Chicanos JUAN First Line: Their superstitions branded him Last Line: And his tears %rippled the smooth surface of the water KHAJURAHO First Line: Rupee, rupee' Last Line: The young voices pure as bells, %'rupee, rupee,' %become an alien sound LA BUENA PASTORA First Line: Santa maria, madre mia, your sparrows tugged Last Line: Like your sparrows, I raise my voice in praise Subject(s): Saints LA BUENA PASTORA: THE GOOD SHEPHERDESS First Line: This is a thirsty land Last Line: This is the thirsty land LA DULCERIA Poem Text First Line: Released into the season Subject(s): Chicanos; Mexican Americans LA DULCERIA First Line: Released into the season Last Line: Season of suckings and burrowings %nectar irresistible Subject(s): Chicanos LA MIGRA Poem Text First Line: Let's play la migra Last Line: You do not understand / get ready Subject(s): Mexican Border; United States – Immigration & Emigration LA MIGRA First Line: Let's play la migra Last Line: You do not understand %get ready Subject(s): Chicanos; Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; U.s. - Race Relations LA MUERTE Poem Text First Line: You don't belong, fea dona sebastiana Subject(s): Skeletons; Ash Wednesday LA MUERTE First Line: You don't belong, fea dona sebastiana Last Line: In their words, shining, like candles Subject(s): Saints LA SAGRADA FAMILIA Poem Text First Line: We are like butterflies Subject(s): Saints LA SAGRADA FAMILIA First Line: We are like butterflies Last Line: Our family honeycombs Subject(s): Saints LA VIA CRUCIS First Line: Again I'll walk with you, dear lord. Forgive me Last Line: To forget my old self, to let my light shine through Subject(s): Saints LA VISITACION First Line: Our stomachs bumped Last Line: To joy, to sharing %this life Subject(s): Saints LEARNING ENGLISH: CHORUS IN MANY VOICES First Line: I feel like a small child Last Line: But doing my best %to express %me LEGAL ALIEN Poem Text First Line: Bi-lingual, bi-cultural Subject(s): Chicanos; Mexican Americans LESSON 1 First Line: The desert is powerless Last Line: Don't fear your hot tears %cry away the storm, then listen, listen LESSON 2 First Line: Small, white fairies dance Last Line: Burst through the surface %dance LET US HOLD HANDS First Line: Let us now hold hands Last Line: Around our petaled home, this earth, let us hold hands Subject(s): Chicanos LETTING GO First Line: At first the cages frightened her Last Line: Frightening her yet tempting her %to join their frenzy LEYENDA First Line: They say there was magic at tula Last Line: Small green and red feathers %landed on indian heads LIMPIEZA First Line: Uno, dos, tres Last Line: Push the dirt out, sweep again and again %till her arms ached LITANY TO THE DARK GODDESS First Line: Coatlicue, mother of all gods Last Line: We're straining to hear Subject(s): Chicanos LIZARDS STIR TASTY DISHES Last Line: Lizards plot and plan %our delicious hullabaloo Subject(s): Desert Animals LLANTOS DE LA LLORONA: WARNINGS FROM THE WAILER Poem Text First Line: Every family has one Last Line: Oye: never underestimate the power of the voice Subject(s): Chicanos; Legends, Mexican; Mexican Americans LLANTOS DE LA LLORONA: WARNINGS FROM THE WAILER First Line: Every family has one Last Line: Never underestimate the power of the voice Subject(s): Chicanos LOS ANCIANOS First Line: They hold hands %as they walk with slow steps Last Line: Of holding hands with one man for fifty years LOS ANGELES DE LA GUARDA First Line: Such days, I know you're here Last Line: I'll join the light Subject(s): Saints LOS BRAZOS DEL RIO First Line: Brincaron aqui, the guide says Last Line: Watch the children Subject(s): Chicanos LOSS OF CONTROL Poem Text First Line: For me it was an adventure Subject(s): Family Life; Relatives LOSS OF CONTROL First Line: For me it was an adventure Last Line: For at the center of the quilt %slept a coiled snake LOVE RITUAL First Line: In mexico the dead are lured Last Line: And you'll be pulled %back too. And maybe stay LURE First Line: The octopus on the platter moved Last Line: We talk and laugh, you say, completely unaware Subject(s): Chicanos MAESTRO Poem Text First Line: He hears her Subject(s): Music & Musicians; Mothers MAESTRO First Line: He hears her %when he bows Last Line: Sweet on the tongue MALINCHE'S TIPS: PIQUE FROM MEXICO'S MOTHER Poem Text First Line: My face isn't red Last Line: Sound familiar? Subject(s): Mexico; Ancestors & Ancestry; Mothers MALINCHE'S TIPS: PIQUE FROM MEXICO'S MOTHER First Line: My face isn't red Last Line: Hating your mother %ruins your skin Subject(s): Chicanos MAMA SPELL First Line: Leave your storyless books, you three Last Line: Come. Dance in the light of the moon Subject(s): Chicanos MAN First Line: Like faceless figures they come Last Line: The icy glint of a thousand angry pins Subject(s): Chicanos MANGO JUICE First Line: Eating mangoes %on a stick Last Line: Your toes warm %in the sand MANGOS Y LIMONES (1) Poem Text First Line: The story is about swellings and slick slidings Last Line: Her mouth full of her own stories Subject(s): Hispanic Americans' Mothers Daughters; Women MANGOS Y LIMONES (1) First Line: The story is about swellings and slick slidings Last Line: Her mouth full of her own stories Subject(s): Chicanos MANGOS Y LIMONES (2) First Line: This is a story about transformations, about swellings Last Line: Her mouth full of her own stories MATCH First Line: The flash %lights the wick Last Line: To sing its quiet song MAYAN HEAT First Line: She had often dreamed of snow Last Line: Gazed up at him, and the ice fires %in the sky burned her skin MAYAN WARNING First Line: Stay away from that tree Last Line: To the bark and the leaves %as I'll squeeze you tonight MAYBE Poem Text First Line: If I stretch myself tall Subject(s): Self-criticism MAYBE First Line: If I stretch myself tall Last Line: Maybe he'll forget it's just me %hiding inside METAMORFOSIS First Line: Topless Last Line: In ripples of light Subject(s): Chicanos MEXICAN MAID First Line: Would the moon help? Last Line: When she steeped off the dusty bus %at the entrance to her village MIELVIRGEN First Line: In the slow afternoon heat she sits Last Line: Her eyes closed, her tongue sliding %on her lips, remembering, remembering MINI-NOVELA: ROSA Y SUS ESPINAS First Line: Empty as I feel, this house Last Line: A novela of my life would be called %rosa y sus espinas or maybe the whine MINI-NOVELA: ROSA Y SUS ESPINAS - EPISODE 1: THE FIRES First Line: Young, he and I scurry barefoot, heads down Last Line: Of water, water, water, their whine, %the horseflies' whine MINI-NOVELA: ROSA Y SUS ESPINAS - EPISODE 2: THE OTHER WOMAN First Line: They scuffle in a cave near the rancho Last Line: Alone I bury his body, small like my babies. %I bury him to the whine of horseflies MINI-NOVELA: ROSA Y SUS ESPINAS - EPISODE 3: THE RETURN First Line: I drag my heavy bones back to the dark house Last Line: Heads down, into the night, into our old %jacal. I dream waves, waves of milk MINI-NOVELA: ROSA Y SUS ESPINAS - EPISODE 4: THE SECOND MAN First Line: Cautious as rats, my children watch me Last Line: One day he slips away like a shadow. %now I stroke my face to sleep MINI-NOVELA: ROSA Y SUS ESPINAS - EPISODE 5: THE SURVIVAL First Line: In the early light the horseflies hover Last Line: For the border, her feet cramped in %someone's scuffed high heels MINI-NOVELA: ROSA Y SUS ESPINAS - EPISODE 6: THE PRESENT First Line: Each night I kneel and sway Last Line: I raise the volume until %I can't hear the whine MIRRORS Poem Text First Line: Grandma makes me mad Subject(s): Grandparents; Beauty; Self-doubt; Grandmothers; Grandfathers; Great Grandfathers; Great Grandmothers MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS First Line: The arm-in-arm-mother-daughter-stroll Last Line: Always the bodytalk thick, %always the recipes %hints for feeding %more with less MOUTHFULS OF FLAVORS Poem Text Last Line: With friends and family Subject(s): Food & Eating MOUTHFULS OF FLAVORS Last Line: With friends and family Subject(s): Desert Animals MUSH First Line: How's life?' the question tugs Last Line: Glass of water, until I feel like me.' MY WORD-HOUSE First Line: The walls grow out of the desert Last Line: Of water. La luna hums with the earth's dark %rhythms, hums lullabies of yellowed lace MYSTERY First Line: In cuba women smile all day Last Line: On the tongue. They smile when their children march %by in uniform, all in step, all smiling NAPPING SUNDAY AFTERNOON First Line: What does he dream Last Line: The little boy asleep, not in the haystack %on the street Subject(s): Chicanos NEW WIFE First Line: She hides all day in loose clothes Last Line: Looks through his eyes, %bites on the finger he puts between her lips NEW YORK: 2 A.M. First Line: Your sleep and sirens Last Line: Leaves breathe slowly near your face, %insistent roots coil up your legs, %two eyes pierce %you awak NO SUBSTITUTES First Line: Don't bother,' I snap Last Line: What did I bury? NOCTEZUMA II First Line: Slit chests bored him Last Line: In the large bowl where he now saw %red blooms pulsing, pulsing NOW AND THEN, AMERICA First Line: Who wants to rot %beneath dry, winter grass Last Line: Will continue right above my bones NUESTRA SENORA DE GUADALUPE First Line: In her bed, she waited for light. Her voice rising Last Line: A woman whose prayers dance and sing Subject(s): Saints NUESTRA SENORA DE LA ANUNCIACION Poem Text First Line: Rejoice! The angel gabriel said Subject(s): Saints NUESTRA SENORA DE LA ANUNCIACION First Line: Rejoice! The angel gabriel said Last Line: May the holy spirit glow in us Subject(s): Saints NUESTRA SENORA DE LOS DOLORES First Line: Seven swords pierced through your mother heart Last Line: Open my ears to the wounded hearts who suffer Subject(s): Saints NUESTRO SENOR CRUCIFICADO First Line: I couldn't sleep so came Last Line: Fold into me those in need Subject(s): Saints NUNCA, NUNCA First Line: In any dark, I feel his small hands slowly rub my Last Line: The tree. Mama whispers, nunca. Nunca. Never trust the dark Subject(s): Chicanos NUNS First Line: I couldn't resist the great folds of hushed Last Line: For the me who would live in those black, %soap-smelling folds, those safe, uniform collars OASIS First Line: To avoid the sting Last Line: Crimson sky -- candles float %like stars, like you Subject(s): Chicanos ODE TO PIZZA Poem Text First Line: Yeast pillow Subject(s): Pizza ODE TO PIZZA First Line: Yeast pillow %sailing Last Line: Our gold floating globe OFFICIAL LINE First Line: Bienvenidos, welcome, welcome, my honored guests Last Line: Hostesses, sweet-talk of money's hum Subject(s): Chicanos OFRENDA FOR LOBO Poem Text First Line: Come, fierce guardian angel Last Line: You, entangle me. Come. Visit, if only for this night Subject(s): Chicanos; Aunts; Ancestors & Ancestry; All Souls' Day; Mexican Americans OFRENDA FOR LOBO First Line: Come, fierce guardian angel Last Line: You, entangle me. Come. Visit, if only for this night Subject(s): Chicanos OLD ANGER First Line: I didn't believe he loved that woman Last Line: Ten years he has shuffled through these rooms, %but I live alone, inside myself. %my old anger warms OLD CRONE First Line: Black bandana hid her hair Last Line: Which let me study her at rest, %see how small she was. Now %she sleeps for months at a time OLD LIZARDS WHISPER CUENTOS Last Line: Long after our bedtime.' Subject(s): Desert Animals ON FIRE First Line: He holds girls' voices Last Line: He stands there silent in the sun %holds each voice, strokes its clear %rising, light whispers betwe ONE POTATO Poem Text First Line: She buys a potato Subject(s): Food Habits; Potatoes ONE POTATO First Line: She buys a potato Last Line: That given time, ripen Subject(s): Food Habits; Potatoes ORACION A LOS SANTOS Poem Text First Line: At sixteen I began to pray to you, old friends Subject(s): Saints ORACION A LOS SANTOS First Line: At sixteen I began to pray to you, old friends Last Line: To find me a husband soon. Ah, men. Amen Subject(s): Saints ORAL HISTORY First Line: You're dead but your voice spins Last Line: Of you and rest peacefully %in your warmth ORDER First Line: If each family member gets one story Last Line: Years later in india when I saw a man mowing %tender grasses growing out of a lake OTHER JOURNEYS First Line: A white dwarf Last Line: The white bull %nose moist, breath warm %still stares at me,%beckons OTHER WOMAN First Line: There's a woman who searches Last Line: Children who burrow, steamy animals %in the dark. This woman dances %only with her brothers PERFUME First Line: How do we scrub away this blood Last Line: They'll wake shaking in the dark, %crying, 'mama! Mama!' PERUVIAN CHILD Poem Text First Line: Still in the middle of my path is the child Last Line: Not to hold her, the child in our arms Subject(s): Peru; Children PERUVIAN CHILD First Line: Still in the middle of my path is the child Last Line: Mud-crusted hands or feet or face, %not to hold her, the child in our arms PESCADOTE Poem Text First Line: What think you, old fish Last Line: Roots crawling in your damp crevices Subject(s): Chicanos PESCADOTE First Line: What think you, old fish Last Line: To the gathering wind Subject(s): Chicanos PETALS First Line: Have calloused her hands Last Line: Which she'd stroke gently, over and over again %with her smooth fingertips PICTURESQUE: SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS First Line: No one told me about the bare feet Last Line: Women's backs. No one told me about the children %who know to open their smiles %as they open their PLOT First Line: I won't let him hit her. I won't Last Line: She must use the ring. %I don't want to split his throat POINSETTIA First Line: You grew green and ignored Last Line: That tear %stained your green leaves red PROBING First Line: If we were a wound Last Line: The baths, canals, reservoirs I dig and probe, %the necessary water cooling and cleansing thousands PUESTA DEL SOL First Line: The gray-haired woman wiped her hands on her Last Line: She found a geranium in bloom, wine bloom, %her wine on a saturday night PUSHING 100 First Line: I'm eating ugly today, she says Last Line: Chocolate bavarian mint pie, two cups %of hot coffee RELUCTANT DEATH First Line: We all know anger, %how suppressed it seeps Last Line: With holy water from her eyes REVENGE X 3 Poem Text First Line: I slipped a note to three Subject(s): Love Letters. Deception RITUALS First Line: Our children came for our hands Last Line: All day we linger at our door. My days are nights. %I've learned to feel my way RIVER OF WOMEN Last Line: Who dream in the sun Subject(s): Chicanos SAINT PASCAL BAYLON / SAN PASCUAL BAILON Poem Text First Line: San pascual pastorcito Last Line: And also your culinary trickery Subject(s): Saints; Cooking & Cooks; Language SAINT RITA / SANTA RITA Poem Text First Line: Wind, rain, fog this morning Last Line: So from within, their holy spirit will shine Subject(s): Saints; Women – Abused; Shame SAME SONG First Line: While my sixteen-year-old-son sleeps Last Line: Peers into the mirror, mirror and frowns too SAN ANTONIO DE PADUA First Line: Por favor, a little nod this morning Last Line: Like yours, may our tongues burn with faith Subject(s): Saints SAN CRISTOBAL First Line: Do you too miss the old days Last Line: Help your carmen across the treacherous river to faith Subject(s): Saints SAN FRANCISCO DE ASIS First Line: Brother sun, a warm greeting Last Line: And pray to learn the joy of praising Subject(s): Saints SAN JOSE Poem Text First Line: I wonder if fathers above congregate Subject(s): Saints SAN JOSE First Line: I wonder if fathers above congregate Last Line: How playfulness, like prayer, sweetens the day Subject(s): Saints SAN MARTIN DE PORRES Poem Text First Line: Can I sing you, brother martin Last Line: That hold our fragrant selves within Subject(s): Martin De Porres Velazquez, Saint (1579-1639) SAN MARTIN DE PORRES First Line: Can I sing you, brother martin Last Line: That hold our fragrant selves within Subject(s): Saints SAN MIGUEL ARCANGEL First Line: From ese feo Last Line: From our evil %deliver us Subject(s): Saints SAN PASCUAL BAILON First Line: San pascual pastorcito Last Line: And also your practical culinary trickery Subject(s): Saints SAN RAFAEL First Line: Saint raphael, entrusted to foresee Last Line: On our winding and uncertain journey Subject(s): Saints SAN YSIDRO LABRADOR Poem Text First Line: May our work enrich the earth. Hear our request Last Line: This night, and at our death, en paz may we rest Subject(s): Farm Life; Isidore The Laborer (or, Farmer), Saint (1070-1130) SAN YSIDRO LABRADOR First Line: May our work enrich the earth. Hear our request Last Line: This night and at our death, en paz may we rest Subject(s): Saints SANTA ANA First Line: Rru-rru-que-rru-rru Last Line: Grace, the music inside %tan tan Subject(s): Saints SANTA BARBARA First Line: Forgive the knife, dear santita Last Line: For quiet, inner light Subject(s): Saints SANTA CLARA First Line: Ve-ni cre-a-tor spi-ri-tus Last Line: Santa clara, hear my prayer Subject(s): Saints SANTA GERTRUDIS LA MAGNA First Line: One day you appeared Last Line: Ay, gran santa, teach us this habit of releasing our %hearts Subject(s): Saints SANTA LIBRADA First Line: I hide you in a drawer. No female bodies Last Line: Of women who honor their mystery Subject(s): Saints SANTA MARIA MAGDALENA Poem Text First Line: Her sins, which are many are forgiven Last Line: Prim critics in our pompous monotone? Subject(s): Mary Magdalen SANTA MARIA MAGDALENA First Line: Her sins, which are many are forgiven Last Line: Help me to release my fire, to feel its sanctity Subject(s): Saints SANTA RITA First Line: Wind, rain, fog this morning Last Line: So from within, their holy spirit will shine Subject(s): Saints SANTA ROSA DE LIMA First Line: Your name blooms in our mouths, rosita Last Line: Soften me into a garden of light Subject(s): Saints SANTA TERESA DE AVILA Poem Text First Line: If I had not been so wicked Last Line: Forever, ever and ever Subject(s): Teresa, Saint (1515-1582) SANTA TERESA DE AVILA First Line: If I had not been so wicked Last Line: Forever, ever and ever Subject(s): Saints SANTA TERESA DELISIEUX First Line: Rose bushes are miracles Last Line: The green mystery within Subject(s): Saints SECRET First Line: The clever twist %is pouring the tears Last Line: Pulling out %a bloomin' poem SEMINAR First Line: Words fell like snow Last Line: The melt %sweet as red wings lifting %from the brambles, as the flight SENIOR CITIZEN TRIO First Line: They carry their words into the activity room Last Line: We won't live forever, ya know. %it's good to save the stories.' SENORA X NO MORE Poem Text First Line: Straight as a nun I sit Last Line: I carve my crooked name, / my name Subject(s): Nuns SENORA X NO MORE First Line: Straight as a nun I sit Last Line: I carve my crooked name, and again at night %until my hand and arm are sore, %I carve my crooked nam Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; U.s. - Race Relations SHADOW First Line: Tapping. On the window an insistent Last Line: Those dark, kindly creatures, the summer my father died Subject(s): Chicanos SILENCE LIKE COOL SAND Poem Text First Line: First lie in it Subject(s): Solitude; Loneliness SILENCE LIKE COOL SAND First Line: First lie in it Last Line: Listen to free rhythms play [or, the roar] SLY WOMAN (1) First Line: The woman who hides from me is sly Last Line: And vanishes in my fingers Subject(s): Chicanos SLY WOMAN (2) First Line: The woman who hides from me is sly, but careless Last Line: Strumming my fingers with its song SOLA First Line: I wanted to dance through life Last Line: On ice, to music no one else has heard %arms free SONRISAS Poem Text First Line: I live in a doorway Subject(s): Mexican-american Families; Morning SONRISAS First Line: I live in a doorway Last Line: In their dark, mexican eyes SPANISH Poem Text First Line: My mom worried that I was sick Subject(s): Mexican-american Families; Sickness; Illness SPRING SHINING First Line: What does he think Last Line: As if always speaking to herself Subject(s): Chicanos SPRING TONIC First Line: He had been her winter secret Last Line: Sipping it slowly %listening to her blood sing STILL LIFE First Line: Still hearing dawn Last Line: To watch the stars come out, %to watch the girls. %spring again STRONG WOMEN First Line: Some women hold me when I need to dream Last Line: Strong women, teach me courage to esteem STUBBORN WOMAN First Line: You know her Last Line: We can buy listerine, mints, that new hand %cream that removes wrinkles, cologne %if it's on sale SUCH MASHING AND SMASHING Last Line: As the musicians play Subject(s): Desert Animals SUENO DE MIEL First Line: Clear as sun- Last Line: In a patient %ear Subject(s): Chicanos SUENOS: DREAMS First Line: She dreams her hands are feathered Last Line: On a hot afternoon, and she too %rises into the sun %light as a dandelion plume, %in silent laughter SUGAR First Line: Quieren una coca?' my father's payday Last Line: Down my back and my dark american legs SWEET WINE First Line: Since no wings could outrace the wind Last Line: And when the moon rose %they tumbled all %night, silent, amorous whirls SYSTEM First Line: Mama, night is never pure Last Line: And one sweet orange. I watch their fragile %legs, their lines, silent, staring at %cement, thousand TAJ MAHAL First Line: Like love it rises Last Line: Some mornings shimmering %like a lotus %floating in this earth TALL WOMAN WALKING Poem Text First Line: The sun stares Last Line: In her purple tennis shoes Subject(s): Grandparents; Women; Grandmothers; Grandfathers; Great Grandfathers; Great Grandmothers TALL WOMAN WALKING First Line: The sun stares Last Line: In her purple tennis shoes Subject(s): Grandparents; Women TEENAGERS Poem Text First Line: One day they disappear Subject(s): Loss TEENAGERS First Line: One day they disappear Last Line: Familiar skin now stretched on long bodies %that move past me %glowing almost like pearls Subject(s): Loss TEJEDORA MAYA First Line: You too know the persistent buzz Last Line: Your hands, your mother's hands %your grandmother's hands %unleash frogs and flowers %older than you THE DESERT IS MY MOTHER Poem Text First Line: I say feed me Variant Title(s): Mi Madre Subject(s): Deserts; Mothers THE EYE OF TEXAS Poem Text First Line: Santa maria, madre mia, your sparrows tugged Subject(s): Chicanos; Texas THE LOVING STRIP Poem Text First Line: Not for men alone do we remove our clothes Last Line: Like young seals around our rock. Subject(s): Aunts; Burlesque; Chicanos; Motion Pictures; Swimming & Swimmers; Theater & Theaters; Striptease; Mexican Americans; Movies; Cinema; Swimmers; Stage Life THE LURE Poem Text First Line: The octopus on the platter moved Subject(s): Chicanos; Mexican Americans THE SHADOW Poem Text First Line: Tapping. On the window an insistent Last Line: Those dark, kindly creatures, the summer my father died Subject(s): Shadows; Mexican Americans THE SYSTEM Poem Text First Line: Mama, night is never pure Last Line: Cement, thousands we never hear Subject(s): Night THE VISITATION / LA VISITACION Poem Text First Line: Our stomachs bumped Last Line: To joy, to sharing / this life Subject(s): Saints; Mary, Mother Of Jesus THE WEIGHT OF A LIFE Poem Text First Line: The darting comet streaks in Subject(s): Chicanos; Mexican Americans THERE WAS A WOMAN First Line: Your guilt tastes bitter Last Line: Childish in a woman's mouth Subject(s): Chicanos THROWING THE VOICE First Line: In her room alone, she looks for it Last Line: Again for what she lost, that small thing, %smooth and shiny as bear fur Subject(s): Sickness TIGUA ELDER Poem Text First Line: How do I tell my children Last Line: There is forgetting in my own true name Subject(s): Native Americans - Genealogy & Heritage TIGUA ELDER First Line: How do I tell my children Last Line: There is worse than pain. %there is forgetting %those are my eyes in the mirror. %there is forgettin TO FRIEND FISH, BIRD CHATTERS Last Line: On some yellow daybreak Subject(s): Desert Animals TO MY SON First Line: Such an empty backyard Last Line: On howling nights clanging, clanging TOMAS RIVERA Poem Text First Line: They knew so much, his hands Subject(s): Chicanos; Education; Mexican Americans TOMAS RIVERA First Line: They knew so much, his hands Last Line: Us yet say, 'now you.' TONIGHT, YOUNG AND OLD Last Line: Join in the fiesta, %the delicious hullabaloo Subject(s): Desert Animals TOO MANY EYES First Line: Once high in the karakorams Last Line: Pulled my hair back %with one quick twist, %hid in my wrinkled clothes TORNABE First Line: Waves swell warm as mothermilk Last Line: To drum's old pulse. Tornabe on the sand by the sea Subject(s): Chicanos TREE-WISDOM First Line: Its steady claws dig Last Line: A tree surprises itself, year after year, %climbs its rings,%climbs itself TWO WOMEN First Line: They had opted for laughing Last Line: Maybe in the spring %when the cholla shimmers %dance together in the white of the moon? TWO WORLDS First Line: Bi-lingual, bi-cultural %able to slip from 'how's life' Last Line: Of being pre-judged bi-laterally Variant Title(s): Legal Alie TZIMIN CHAAK Poem Text First Line: Rise, sweet horse, gather your resting bones Last Line: You and I, gallop wild with the wind Subject(s): Mexico; Horses; Cortes, Hernando (1485-1547) TZIMIN CHAAK First Line: Rise, sweet horse, gather your resting bones Last Line: You and I, gallop wild with the wind Subject(s): Chicanos UMM, SMELL THE MANGOES Last Line: Hungry lagartijas, %we'll gobble anything Subject(s): Desert Animals UN CUENTO DE AGUA SANTA First Line: The king frowned, of course Last Line: And bloomed wet again, again, and again Subject(s): Chicanos UNIVERSITY AVENUE Poem Text First Line: We are the first Subject(s): Universities & College; Mexican-american Families UNIVERSITY AVENUE First Line: We are the first Last Line: Our people burn deep within us UNNATURAL SPEECH Poem Text First Line: The game has changed Subject(s): Chicanos; English Language; Mexican Americans UNREFINED First Line: The desert is no lady Last Line: Digs her nails into all flesh. %her unveiled lust fascinates the sun VEILED First Line: If before the mullah's morning call Last Line: Or will sighs rise, %heavy, dark like storm clouds? VILLAGE THERAPY First Line: Sly grandmother waits until the family leaves Last Line: Abuelita dozes, too tired %from her day of talking to say more VOICE First Line: Even the lights on the stage unrelenting Last Line: In the next generation. Your breath moves %through the family like the wind %moves through the trees WEIGHT OF A LIFE First Line: The darting comet streaks in Last Line: How to let another float within the palms Subject(s): Chicanos WEIRD Poem Text First Line: I start to write an e-mail but Subject(s): Emails WHEN LIZARDS HEAR MUSIC Last Line: Join us on this orange night.' Subject(s): Desert Animals WITNESS Poem Text First Line: She gathers quiet around her Last Line: The truths we know Subject(s): Women; Truth WITNESS First Line: She gathers quiet around her Last Line: And as she speaks we feel our tongues, %heavy, hiding, unwilling to utter %the truths we know YOUNG SOR JUANA First Line: I'm three and cannot play away my days Last Line: My hands are strong, and from within I rule |
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