Making Verbal Tamales for Christmas

My family making tamales. Photo by Gabriel Bermejo.

A month or so back my friend Erika Ayon and I met to collaborate on poetry projects. During our meeting we created a form together. I've always wanted to create my own form, and this felt like the perfect time. We call it a tamal, as in the Mexican treat often eaten at Christmas. A tamal should be seven lines long, begin and end with the same line, rhyme on the 2nd, 4th, and 6th lines, and customarily mentions food.

On Wednesday December 23rd (aka Christmas Adam), I spent the day with my grandmother at her house in Boyle Heights. While sitting with her I heard a young girl singing Silent Night through the streets as part of a Posada*. This moment inspired the following tamal.

Posada

A young girl sings Noche de Paz
through a silent East L.A. night.
From my Grandmother’s stoop I watch
families weave winter streets by candlelight.
"Grandma, lo oyes?" She sets knitting down
to listen. We find our shelter tonight
as a young girl sings Noche de Paz.

My grandmother's front stoop. Photo by Erika Medrano.

Happy Holidays, to all! I hope you all have enjoyed moments of peace and beauty with those you love.

Please feel free to give the tamal a whirl. What kind will you make?

*Posadas are a Mexican tradition where a community reenacts the journey of Mary and Joseph through Bethlehem to find an inn. People walk through the streets going from house to house singing songs and asking to be allowed inside. They are denied many times until they get to the home/church/community center that welcomes them in. Once inside there is a party usually with piñatas, champurado, pan dulce and other treats.

Splintered Thoughts: Poetry, Politics, and the Individual

Click here for the latest Splintered Thoughts Blogtalk show.
On today's show we listened to poet and Mexican immigrant, Erika Ayon, share narrative poems about her childhood as a street vendor selling oranges. Her poems give us a personal and touching view of a way of life many of us will never experience, but pass by (at least in L.A.) daily. She also introduced us to the Dream Act, a proposal for undocumented students to become citizens under certain moral and educational stipulations. This month is very important for the Dream Act and in order to help this proposal become a bill you can call California Senator Diane Feinstein and ask her to support the proposal, or for more information you can visit dreamactivist.org. Don't be afraid to get active. Here is something we can do now to help young, hardworking students have a brighter future.

We also spoke to Arizona-based activist, Walt Staton. He is familiar with the immigration issue as he has been volunteering with human rights group No More Deaths since 2004, bringing water and medical aid to migrants crossing the dangerous deserts of Arizona. He spoke out against the negative turn Arizona has taken, and asked us all to look for a more positive solution. Instead of making the border a full out military zone, he suggests tearing down the wall and decriminalizing immigration. Perhaps, he has a point. The more we criminalize immigrants the bigger the war will get. If we don't take a different approach, who knows when it will stop?

Fight fear with knowledge and compassion, not guns and walls. And remember that we are all human, all individuals.

Earth & Poetry Day April 18 at Whittier Narrows Nature Area

The public is invited to enjoy the timeless combination of nature and poetry when the historic Whittier Narrows Natural Area plays host to a free Earth & Poetry Day event on Sunday, April 18.
The family-friendly celebration, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., will include a docent-led nature walk at 11 a.m. followed by poetry performances and refreshments beginning at 12:30 p.m. Attendees are invited to bring a nature-themed poem to share.
The event will include performances by touring spoken word poet Jared Paul, of Providence, R.I., and Southern California poets Deborah P. Kolodji, Chris Wesley and, 2009 PEN Emerging Voices Fellow, Erika Ayón. All activities will take place in or leave from the picnic area outside the nature center.
The event marks both National Poetry Month and the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, which this year falls on Wednesday, April 22. The natural area, a wildlife sanctuary founded by the National Audubon Society, celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2009.
The Whittier Narrows Natural Area is located at 1000 N. Durfee Ave., South El Monte CA 91733, across from South El Monte High School. Parking is free.
This natural area, home to numerous species of birds and other animals and plants native to wetland communities, is currently in danger. For more on saving this nature reserve visit the Friends of the Whittier Narrows Natural Area .

Poetry News and Videos

Back in November 2009, I, along with L.A. poet Rafael Alvarado, started a reading series at the Arroyo Seco Central Library in Highland Park with help from our library contact and librarian, Erika Montenegro. Our inaugural reading was a huge hit with readings from PEN Emerging Poet, Erika Ayon, myself, and famous L.A. writer, editor, and community activist Luis Rodriguez, author of Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A.

The event was covered by a local L.A. public access station. You can check out excerpts from our readings and interviews from the story below.




And for a little inspiration, check out this video of Bob Dylan and Joan Baez singing, "Deportee 1976." Thank you Christina for passing this on to me.

Enjoy! And let's remember that poetry, politics, and the people are rarely exclusive of each other.

Peace, Love, and Community.