Poetry is what in a poem makes you laugh, cry, prickle, be
silent, makes your toe nails twinkle, makes you want to do this or that or
nothing, makes you know that you are alone in the unknown world, that your
bliss and suffering is forever shared and forever all your own.
― Dylan Thomas
Poetry is an act of peace. ―Pablo Neruda
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| Mouthfeel Press |
April is Poetry Month and The Latina
Book Club is celebrating with exciting and powerful poets that make us sit up
and read and imagine. Hence, we have
chosen a book of the month that makes us do all that.
OCELOCIHUATL
by Xánath Caraza brings a lump to your throat, a tear to your eye and a sigh to
your heart. It’s a beautiful, haunting bilingual
poetry collection written in vibrant imagery about a Jaguar woman – a spirit
guide, if you will – that prowls and
growls at the land, at society, at herself.
Ocelocíhuatl straddles two worlds and struggles to unite those worlds and make a place for
herself. But violence, pain and
suffering – like the 43 missing Mexican students and the slain teen Michael
Brown – make her sad, angry, and frustrated.
So the Jaguar Woman roams across different lands, eager to heal, desperate
for peace.
Poetry should make you feel, and readers will feel a whole range of emotions as they journey alongside the courageous Ocelocíhuatl. Readers will also fall in love with the cover for it too tells a pulsating tale of journeys taken, unity sought and healing found.#
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Xánath Caraza
is a traveler, educator, poet and short story writer. She teaches at the
University of Missouri, Kansas City, and presents readings and workshops in
Europe, Latin America, and the U.S. She is a 2015 International Book Award for
Poetry winner and an Honorable Mention for Best Book of Poetry in Spanish
winner. She is the author of CONJURO, and short story book LO QUE TRAE LA
MAREA/ WHAT THE TIDE BRINGS by Mouthfeel Press. She writes the column,
"US Latino Poets en Español". Caraza is a writer for La Bloga and for
Revista Zona de Ocio, and teaches at the University of Missouri-Kansas City
(UMKC). She is an advisory circle member of the Con Tinta literary organization.
Visit her at http://xanathcaraza.webs.com/
READ POETRY. READ LATINO.