The New Anthology of American Poetry: Vol. III: Postmodernisms 1950-Present

VICTOR HERNÁNDEZ CRUZ

394 VICTOR HERNÁNDEZ CRUZ b. 1949 Victor hernández cruz writes exuberant poems that often mix English, Spanish, and other languages in what he has termed “linguistic stereo.” A Nuyorican poet—born in Puerto Rico but raised in New York—Cruz also mixes diverse cultural references, ranging from the Americas to Europe and Africa. His themes are cultural hybridity, political and spiritual liberation, and the joys of living. His poems possess enormous verbal gusto, employing remarkable rhythms and repetitions that link them to oratory and music. They are made to be spoken aloud—even to be sung or to accompany a dance. In an essay in his volume Red Beans, he writes: “We can walk the planet with our genes, imagine ourselves in the Sevilla of the Arabs holding court with ibn Arabi and al-Ghazálí, quickly switch over to the halls of Tenochtitlán, then once again wake up in our contemporary reality dancing Yoruba choreography in some club in Manhattan .” He gives his English some “spice” and “Hispanic mobility” so as to resonate with Anglo, Latino, and all other sorts of readers. Cruz’s poems often follow a fragmented, unpredictable course. They suggest an aesthetic of movement and music while adhering to a conception of the socially engaged, prophetic poet. Cruz was influenced by a wide variety of cultural sources: Latino folk and popular music as well as U.S. jazz and rock and roll; Latin American poets such as Ernesto Cardenal and Octavio Paz as well as U.S. poets ranging from Walt Whitman and William Carlos Williams to Allen Ginsberg and Amiri Baraka. Ginsberg called Cruz an “original soul looking out intelligent Bronx windows.” Whether Cruz is evoking a Caribbean folk dance (as in “Areyto”) or contemplating red beans and white rice (as in “Red Beans”), he discovers verbal pleasure and cultural complexity while seeking, as he says, “the essence of things.” Cruz was born in a small mountain town in Puerto Rico, but because of dif- ficult financial circumstances his family moved to New York when he was five. He grew up in Manhattan and started to write poetry when he was fourteen. Beginning to publish his work at the age of eighteen, he quit high school months before graduation and became a cofounder of the East Harlem Gut Theater and an editor of a magazine called Umbra. Well known as a poet and essayist, he has taught at a variety of universities, including the University of California, Berkeley. He presently divides his time between Puerto Rico, New York, and Morocco. Areyto Ø 395 1. Puerto Rican tree with red or orange flowers. 2. Perhaps a reference to the Ouroboros, an ancient Egyptian symbol that represented a serpent swallowing its own tail and forming an eternal circle. Possibly also a reference to the Mayan deity Kukulcan and the Aztec deity Quetzalcoatl, both of which were feathered serpents associated with rebirth and art. 3. “Look” (Spanish). further reading Frances Aparicio. “On Subversive Signifiers.” In Tropicalizations: Transcultural Representations of Latinidad, ed. Frances Aparicio and Susana Chávez-Silverman. Hanover: Dartmouth University Press, 1997. Victor Hernández Cruz. Maraca: New and Selected Poems, 1965–2000. Minneapolis: Coffee House Press, 2001. — — — —. The Mountain in the Sea. Minneapolis: Coffee House Press, 2006. — — — —. Panoramas. Minneapolis: Coffee House Press, 1997. — — — —. Red Beans. Minneapolis: Coffee House Press, 1991. Bruce Allen Dick. A Poet’s Truth: Conversations with Latino/Latina Poets. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2003. Areyto My empire of flamboyans1 Through boulevards made of mountains Dressed green to the heavens As voices circulate the hymns of our history From the dancers of the round serpent formed at the center of Life2 This is Americas Areyto This is Americas Areyto In cities mountains of flying metallic cars and consumer junk/ Nerves pile up upon horizons of progress That whisper inside/ Mira3 look Look mira that whisper inside Is the old calendar ticking The Areyto is still swinging: The Gods said they would take us back and deliver us from Ø Victor Hernández Cruz 396 4. Primary god of the Taíno people, indigenous inhabitants of Puerto Rico. 5. Brightly colored tropical birds noted for their striking reds and greens. 6. Aztec feathered-serpent god. 7. Ramón Emeterio Betances (1827–1898) founded the Puerto Rican independence movement . José Martí (1853–1895): a Cuban poet, political theorist, and independence advocate who died in a battle with Spanish troops. 8...