José OlivarezReseñas

I read the English half only, I LOVE that this book has English and Spanish included and flipped, so both are the front half of their respective side of the book. I took a look at the Spanish half, but 1) poetry is hard and 2) my Italian is stronger and my Spanish but not strong enough that I can figure out the Spanish lol.

This book left me with more questions than anything. The author is quite adamant that he is Mexican, and I wonder how his relatives who have spent their lives living in Mexico would feel about that--do they consider him Mexican, or American, or Mexican-American? Perhaps he is a DACA recipient and is trapped between, unable to live as either a Mexican or as an American. He does not say, though I also understand why he might not want to announce that to the world in the Trump era (because we are no post-Trump, he is still out there causing trouble and hating).

I spent an embarrassing amount of this book thinking Cal City was the desert city California City. Finally I googled when I realized he was in Chicago. And that Calumet City is right next to Dolton, where my grandfather was born and raised. On page 71, "Wherever I'm at That Land is Chicago" says "all the steel mills shuttering up like conquered forts. one day, there will be an urban tour through South Chicago". It sounds like not much has changed in the last 100 years. Those mills were shuttering/shuttered in the 1930s too, my grandfather worked at one, and my grandparents fled to California in 1936 because there was no more work in Chicago. And thus I exist.

Such a wonderful poet. and mind. and interviewer, if you care to track down his audio.

"dear god, I'll never understand
how some people meet
a drowning person & offer
INSPIRATIONAL advice
instead of offering a hand or rope"

I'm celebrating love today with this heartwarming collection. Promise of Gold/Promises de Oro by José Olivarez publishes today and I need you all to run and gift yourself his words. This collection has me pausing, breathing a little clearer, drawing emojis in the pages, texting screenshots, thinking about ways to dismantle systems, clinging to memories and remembering the ancestors. I am also being reminded that it's OK to not be OK and self-care is also letting others love me when I need to heal.

This one is perfect for today because love is one of the prominent themes and explored in so many poems: in the ways we care for each other and ourselves, the way we use our voices to advocate, the ways that men love through actions and less words, the ways that love shapes communities and so many other aspects. Olivarez's collection also captures themes of immigration, racism, love, family, masculinity, friendship, the pandemic, mental health and grief. The format takes you on an exploration, transforms you and gives you a nice big abrazo at the end. Olivarez wore his heart on his sleeve and the emotions just bleed through. For me, the bilingual format was golden. I read through it first in English and then flipped it over and read in Spanish. Palabras hit different in español. I love you doesn't melt my soul the way te amo does. Olivarez is a word magician and his prose will cast a spell on you. Thank you @henryholtbooks for the gifted copy.

Promises of Gold is a book of poems that will touch your inner-being! It was very well written and engaging. The book is in English and Spanish. One half is English and you flip it over and there is the Spanish side. Highly recommend!

Summer 2021 (July);

I started a grand quest through a large assortment of poetry & short story collections recommended from my APSI (AP Summer Institute) for AP Literature, and this is one of the many as you will see.

This was such a moving collection of biographical poems touching on the Chicano lifestyle, especially that of so often being considered "illegal," whether in actually being in or in being it through the treatment of a society who says you are even when your documents (and or being born somewhere) says you aren't. There is poignance, heartbreak, family, and then suddenly unexpected witty lines that will have you laughing out loud.

This was a brilliant way to start the new year.

Olivarez paints a beautifully achy vision of being Mexican & American, especially in the Chicago area. He grew up in a different space & era than I did but it all felt so real. Many times his words broke my heart & filled me with love.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️***

"Ode to Cheese Fries"

golden goo of artificial deliciousness,
what probably lines
my stomach with sunlike grease for weeks after
eating the yellow
so yellow it could only be manufactured, so what
if it's fake?

as much cheese content as Apple Jolly Ranchers -
i come from
a city of foreclosure foreclosure empty lot. city
where we got
dollar-store-brand action figures - so what
my Wolverine didn't

have retractable claws or the right uniform?
so my joy
at Pano's my favorite fried-everything spot -
the cashier's voice
a box of Newports filtered through throat -
i didn't know

i would miss this home where the patties
come from freezers
and maybe not ever from cows or even animals -
i live in
a city that brags about its organic fair-trade
quinoa-fed beef -

of course i miss the '90s playing in the restaurant -
the Back Street Boys
live in Cal City where the band never breaks up,
the song plays
on repeat as the cashier takes my order, say it with me -
cheese fries please -

give me everything artificial including cardboard fries,
the bread fresh
out of some Walmart cloning experiment - throw in
a cold pop -
i want a joy so fake it stains my insides &
never fades away

* * * *

"Note: Rose that Grows from Concrete"

the inspirational slogan wants you to believe you are a rose, but consider the
emperor's muddy boot. you could be a rose or concrete, the record suggests
the boot sees both both as a welcome mat. we need a new metaphor. a seed is bet-
ter. but when seeds grow, who gets the fruit? fuck it. be a rusty nail. make
the emperor howl.

****

In Citizen Illegal Chicagoan Jose Olivarez draws on his Mexican-American experience and heritage in a collection that is profound and provoking. He's second generation, and his parents have aspirations for him.

One set of poems sprinkled throughout the book are all titled "Mexican Heaven". Here are three:

"Mexican Heaven"

all the Mexican women refuse to cook or clean
or raise the kids or pay bills or make the bed or
drive your bum ass to work or do anything except
watch their novelas, so heaven is gross, the rats
are fat as roosters and the men die of starvation.

"Mexican Heaven"

Saint Peter lets Mexicans into heaven
but only to work in the kitchens.
a Mexican dishwasher polishes the crystal,
smells the meals, & hears the music.
they dream of another heaven,
one they might be allowed in
if they work hard enough.

"Mexican Heaven"

there are white people in heaven, too.
they build condos across the street
& ask the Mexicans to speak English.
i'm just kidding
there are no white people in heaven.

* * * *

There are great poems about his parents getting into this country in the trunk of a Toyota Tercel ("My Parents Fold Like Luggage"), wishing for a birthday night on which his mother doesn't need to worry ("On My Mom's 50th Birthday"), saying "Hell No" in Chicago ("Hecky Naw"), my favorite Chicago Bulls basketball player, Scottie Pippen ("Ode to Scottie Pippen"), trying to fulfill his parents' aspirations ("I Tried to Be a Good Mexican Son"), worrying about living with a Trump country and dangerous police ("Mexican American Obituary"), ways of being labeled by the government and being a "Mexican American ... who colleges love, but only on brochures" ("Mexican American Disambiguation"), and many more. No hit and miss in this one; they were all hits for me. Five stars and right now my favorite poetry collection of the year. It just got nominated for the Pushcart Prize.

Diversity poet with attitude (he detests white people) whose poems were published precisely and only for that reason - but - he does have some substantial talent - pissed off that Americans (he means only white Americans) expect him to speak proper English and that some of them bristle at the fact that his kin broke the law coming to this country and, get this, of all the nerve, he expects immediate cultural adjustment by the people solely responsible for the country his parents snuck into - because it was a sanctuary for them from poverty - if only we pesky white people didn't stand in his and his people's way they could recreate the Paradise they fled in Old Mexico, and points south. He is definitely worth reading - some day he could be a major poet.