Poetry is like a song, like a psalm, like a prayer. Poetry is different
things to many people, and April being Poetry Month,
The Latina Book Club is celebrating by featuring Latino
poets all week long.
We welcome to our site former Poet Laureate Thelma T. Reyna,
who
has graciously shared with us an autobiographical poem, a glimpse from her
childhood.
GROWING UP DUSTY
IN A SMALL TEXAS TOWN
Our
ankles were always gray, caliche
dust
swirling like guardian angels around twiggy brown
legs
leaping potholes, tripping on dirt clods. Nine
children
oblivious to what it meant to be growing up dusty.
In
winter, rivers of mud separated us from Licha, Juan,
Susie.
Dripping mesquite trees beckoned. Black puddles
dotted
our ‘hoodscape far as child eyes could see, little
lakes
navigated house to house as we grew up dusty.
When
morning light tickled our bedfaces, dervishes danced
through
cracks and chinks in sills and walls and floors and doors.
Grandma’s
rag couldn’t stem the tide of constant coats
of
dust as we grew up in our small Texas town.
On
the other end were asphalt roads, mown lawns and
children
with patent leather shoes that stayed black.
At
school, only chalkboard dust bound them and us as
we
grew up dusty in our small Texas town.
----by Thelma T. Reyna
Printed with permission. © Thelma T. Reyna. All rights reserved by
author.
CHATTING WITH THELMA T.
REYNA
Q: You are a published poet and a former Poet Laureate.
What does poetry mean to you and are you happy that there is a yearly
designated poetry month?
THELMA: First, yes, I’m
delighted that a poetry month has been designated annually. Poets never receive
the recognition and appreciation that our society owes them. Throughout our
world’s history, poets have been prominent in molding and defining
civilizations across the globe, going back to before books were available. The
ancient Greeks, Romans, Persians, Chinese, Japanese, early Europeans--we still
read their poetry! Here at home, our Native Americans and early European
colonials left us their poetic legacies as well. Poets cultivate the best in
human beings: our sensitivity, spirituality, love of nature, our ability to
reflect on life and people, our musicality, love of language and ideas. Poets
generally have keen insights, observational powers, and the freedom to express
their ideas creatively. They do all this in compact, economic ways. Taken
together, all this translates to, “Poets communicate in modes and at levels
that most other communication does not accomplish.” All this is what poetry
represents to me, and that’s why I consider poetry vital to civilization.
Q: How do you come by
your love of poetry? When did you start writing poems? Are you working on a new
collection?
THELMA: I was an introverted adolescent, all the way through
college, actually. I loved my English classes, the books we read, my fantastic
teachers, going to the library on my own (since we had no books at home). All
the elements were right for writing poetry, which I began in high school. I’m
working on a new collection of poems now--my seventh book, though it will be my
second full-length collection of my own work. I’d like to publish it later this
year, or early next year.
Q: Who are your favorite
poets--Latino and non-Latino? Old and contemporary?
THELMA: I was a high school
English teacher for 16 years, so I have many favorite poets of all cultures and
eras from my teaching period. Some are Emily Dickinson, Gwendolyn Brooks,
Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, and of course William Shakespeare. Then, as an
occasional book reviewer of Latinos’ books and a supporter of Latino literature,
I bonded with the work of Luis J. Valdez, Pat Mora, Melinda Palacios, Lorna Dee
Cervantes, Sandra Cisneros, Richard Blanco, and Blas Falconer, among many
others.
Finally, in my work as an anthology editor, I’ve especially
enjoyed the poetry of my fellow Southern California writers, such as Karineh
Mahdessian, Luivette Resto, Lois P. Jones, Yago S. Cura, Mark A. Fisher, J.K.
Won, and Beverly M. Collins, among many poets whom I deeply admire and respect.
The depth and breadth of talent in my immediate poetry community (Pasadena,
Altadena, and the greater Los Angeles area) is astounding! Readers can see this
varied talent in our Altadena Poetry Review Anthology (2015, 2016, and 2017).
Q: You were the editor
of the Altadena Poetry Review Anthology in 2015 and 2016, when it won
two national book awards. How do you pick a wining poem? Is it structure? Type?
Emotional depth?
THELMA: It’s more of a
holistic assessment. Everything you mention can be involved, but it’s how the various
elements of poetry are combined: imagery (word pictures), poetic techniques
(alliteration, metaphor, irony, etc.), “voice” (persona, perspective, authenticity),
for example. Funny, but things that others often connect with poetry--such as
rhyme or pattern on the page--are not the dominant criteria. All “types” of
poems can be “winning poems.” It comes down to uniqueness of expression in
clearly conveying the sentiment or idea aimed at.
Q: What advice would you
give new poets?
THELMA: Don’t throw away
your poems. Keep all your poetry in a binder, box, somewhere in an organized,
accessible place, and note the date you wrote each poem on the page. The poems
that may not seem good enough for publication at this point might be ready to
“see the light of day” in another year down the road, with revising or
polishing. You never know. This has happened to me and to many published poets
I know. I wrote some of my own favorite poems 30 years ago, but they weren’t
ready for publication until the recent past. Never give up on what you wrote if
you consider the topic or feeling worthy enough for future reconsideration.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: THELMA T. REYNA’S books have collectively
won 8 national literary awards. She has written 4 books: a short story
collection, 2 poetry chapbooks, and a full-length poetry collection, Rising,
Falling, All of Us. As Poet Laureate in Altadena, 2014-2016, she edited the Altadena
Poetry Review Anthology in 2015 and 2016, with the latter book winning two
national book awards. Thelma’s fiction, poetry, and nonfiction have appeared in
literary journals, anthologies, textbooks, and regional media for over 25
years.
Follow
her on these websites & Social Media:
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