8888CHICANO POEMS FOR THE BARRIO
8888By Angela de Hoyos ©1975
8888Editor Teresinka Pereira
8888Code-switched Spanish/English
8888Backstage Books, 1975, 24pp
8888Revised Edition 1977
8888Drawings by Cecilo Garcia-Camarillo
8888M&A Editions 1977, 32pp
TOC (2 0F 15 ) SELECCIONES AND SELECTED POEMS BY ANGELA DE HOYOS

8888Chicano Poems:
8888For the Barrio INTRODUCTORY NOTE

In CHICANO POEMS we see Angela de Hoyos come
from her innermost dimension to face the human pain that
some men inflict upon others, when carried away by the
difference of race, language and traditions. Her tone some
times ironic, issues always from a grieved voice, in which
are fused her love and compassion for her people, to serve
as their living light, their north star, their inspiration. A
voice born from the necessity to defend human dignity:
888888888888- a sadness,
888888888888porque te llamas
888888888888Juan, y no John
888888888888as the laws
888888888888of assimilation dictate.
This last verse is important, because, together with the
renouncing of inner dignity, of identity, which Angela de
Hoyos wishes to point out a -- renunciation to which the
Chicano submits in his effort to be accepted in a society
which despite centuries continues hostile to him-- the word
'assimilation' implies a deep preoccupation which makes
her want to preserve what she most dearly loves: the
Chicano tradition. And she exclaims in a pondering tone,
as if wanting to recuperate its authenticity, as if to escape
that force which advances towards oblivion: "En tierra
de gringo/ vamos poco a poco/ sepultando todo". And in the effort to retain that tradition, she goes retracing, taking inventory of everythiing that should be 		 

preserved:"..por alla.. por el Westside/ LAS GOLONDRINAS BAR/ Se Sirve Menudo/: YO AQUI ME QUEDO PLACE/ Barbacoa Los Domingos/: EL ZAGUAN SPANISH FLEA-MARKET / Todo Se Va/ Casi-Casi Reglado". These poems which transcend in a deep and subtle way, until they gauge the deepest feeling of the reader, carry at the same time a simple lesson. And we are amazed that it has not yet been assimilated by those other immigrants, in whom the only difference from the Chicano is the date of arrival. What she calls jewels of the ancestral past --the Alamo, La Villita, the missions-- these no longer belong to her: "They belong to a pilgrim/ who arrived here only yesterday/ whose racist tongue says to me: I hate Meskins. You're a Meskin. Why don't you/ go back to where you came from?/ Yes, amigo...! Why don't 1? Why don't I resurrect the Pinta, the Nina and the Santa Maria/ ..and you can scare up your little 'Flor de Mayo'../ so we can all sail back/ to where we came from: the mother- land womb".

Will the North American learn once and for all that, except for the pre-Columbian Indian who inhabited these lands, we are all immigrants?

8888—DR. MIREYA ROBLES
8888 Briarcliff College, New York


8888Back cover first edition

ANGELA DE HOYOS, Mexican -born painter and poet was reared in USA. She attended San Antonio College and studied fine arts. Among her many awards is the recent 2nd Prize for Poetry, CSSI International Competition, Italy. She has been published in: MODERN POETRY IN TRANSLATION, ALA, POEMA CONVIDADO ( in Portuguese Translation), PREMIER POETS, etc. She has translated two books of poetry: “While Springtime Sleeps” (Mientras duerme la primavera, by Teresinka Pereira) and “Time the Artisan” (Tiempo Artisano, by Mireya Robles). She has one book published: ARISE CHICANO AND OTHER POEMS (bilingual edition; Spanish translation by Mireya Robles for Backstage books).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


  
8888Back cover second edition

8888 "REMEMBER THE ALAMO"

Angela de Hoyos, poeta que ya se lanzó en el mundo literario y artístico norteamericano con su libro ARISE CHICANO And Other Poems en una edición bilingüe (la versión al español por Mireya Robles) nos sorprende y asombra otra vez con su segundo libro, CHICANO POEMS FOR THE BARRIO. Con una voz mucho más segura de
sus versos agresivamente acusatorios, con una madurez de poeta que ya lanzó su primer grito al público y que sabe que él exige y espera oír más, Angela de Hoyos empieza el nuevo libro con otra lírica chicana, como una mezcla de llanto y reto, de protesta y afirmación.
888888888888 “I was born too late
888888888888in a land
888888888888that no longer belongs to me”
dice en su poema "Hermano" refiriéndose a la historia de Texas. Casi todos los poemas de CHICANO POEMS presentan ese tono positivo de hermandad, en la voz de una compañera que vino desde México para aquí encontrar a su hermano chicano subyugado por el gringo, el nuevo señor de la sierra arrancada de sus antecesores. Este poema "Hermano" es el más fuerte del libro y a la vez es un canto de añoranza y de esperanza ("I must wait for the conquering barbarian / to learn the Spanish word for Iove: hermano") y uno de los más hondos poemas de la Iiteratura chicana desde "El Alamo". Angela de Hoyos, es además de su trabajo poético y literario una magnífica pintora radicada en San Antonio, Tejas.
88888—DR. TERESINKA PEREIRA