I have attended two out of the two multicultural Mondays so far this year. The first Multi Cultural Monday (MCM) I attended occurred on September 15th. The guests were poet Brenda Cardenas and poet Maurice Kilwein-Guevara. It was hosted by the Latino Student Union. Brenda and Maurice had spoken during convocation about their poetry and writing that morning.
During the MCM both Brenda and Maurice talked a little bit more about themselves and what Brenda Cardenas read a few poems for us. The one poem that I remember most vividly was “Report from the Temple of Confessions in Old Chicano English.” I believe she read it during convocation. It is a poem filled with vivid imagery, metaphors and Spanish language.
This is a web site with her work where you can read her poems or listen to her read them. http://voices.e-poets.net/CardenasB/poems.shtml.
During lunch she read to us “Sonnet for Thunder Lovers and Primary Colors.” This is just a short poem that is a good example of her style and rhythm, but does not have any Spanish in it. I really loved being able to listen to her poetry firsthand as she read them.
Sonnet for Thunder Lovers and Primary Colors
(When Sweet Nothing Just Don't Cut It)
You're more than soda fizz, than sparklers lit
for kids at play, than fireflies' flit in sky.
You spin around my heart and up my thigh
with the whistle and boom of a botle rocket.
Baby, those other jugglers' gigolo tricks--
magician's spell and mime's unspoken sigh--
don't turn my head, don't catch my ear or eye,
but your mercy rolls in my hip pocket.
Some women lke the subtle hints, require
a pastel touch, a whispered cry and blush,
but not me: I am all hyperbole.
Your howls of red, your strokes of green sapphire,
your cayenne kiss, serrano pepper rush
from lip to nape of knee will do for me.
(Published in RATTLE: Poetry for the 21st Century, Vol 5, No. 2, Issue 12, Winter, 1999)
I really enjoyed Breda’ poems, but I had a hard time understanding some of them. I don’t know Spanish and so I definitely felt like an outsider when Brenda, Maurice, and other students would spit out Spanish phrases or words.
Maurice’s poetry that I saw during convocation was animated and brought to life the issue of racial stereo typing.
here is the link
<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/poetryeverywhere/uwm/guevara.html>
This particular poems was apart of the Poetry Everywhere Project which tries to expos a wide range of people to a variety of poetry. There were multiple writers involved along side with Maurice. I believe the poetry was put on buses and shown randomly on TV.
It was really interesting hearing from both writers about what inspired them and what they see in their daily life. We touched on social justice issues, racial equality and current events. I enjoyed this MCM, but I did feel quite out of place since I don’t speak Spanish.
Like any great MCM we had a lovely lunch, this time of Tamales that were purchased from Universal Tamales in downtown Goshen.
One thing I take away is the disconnect language can make. As I think about teaching ESL/ ENL students I need to remember the frustration that comes when one does not know the language.
