Celso - Softcover

Romero, Leo; Sanchez, Ricardo

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0934770360 ISBN 13: 9780934770361

Publisher: Arte Publico Press, 1985

Synopsis

"Romero's book is not so much a collection of poems as it is a narrative sequence, a body of related pieces which follow the title character from birth to the brink of death. Celso is Everyman, his roles ranging from shabby Christ figure to buffoon, drunkard, and ladies' man, alternately unkempt, lascivious, pathetic, witty-cruel, curious, and outrageous".

About this title

About the Author

Ricardo Sanchez is a writer, Emmy winning creator, and executive producer. His comic book credits include Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Resident Evil, RIFT: Telara Chronicles, and many others. When he's not writing comics, Ricardo maintains a vintage toy blog, drives 70's muscle cars, and shops year round for Halloween decorations for his home in Redwood City, CA.

Review

Across Pitch Black Forests And Meadows
Angel Hair
As He Shuts The Door Behind Him
Breath Of Flowers
Celso Talking To The Moon
Celso's Adoptive Mother
Celso's Detractors
Celso's Dream
Celso's Father
Celso's Rejuvenation
Celso's Story About China
Celso, Moonstruck
Dancing With Moonlight
The Dead Have No Eyes With Which To Cry
Devil-may-care
The Endless Miles Of Pine
Estrellita's Lips
The First Ever Picked By Eve
The Gospel According To Celso
His Hunger Forgotten
Holy Water
Lake Of Sorrow
The Lengthening Shadows Of Evening
A Lost Soul
Love Makes Fools Of Us All
The Miracle
The Moon And The Angels
Newlyweds
No Bed As Cold
The Other Side Of The Horizon
A Pillow Full Of Feathers
The Poison Of Her Kiss
Que Pendejos Son Los Hombres Viejos
The Rooster
Roses Blooming In The Snow
The Sermon Of The Grape
Una Cancion De Flores
Visitors
When Witches Come Visiting
A Widow's Dance
Winter In His Bones
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

In these 28 poems, the editors provide an introduction to "Ricardo Sanchez' English-language poetry," a poetry alive with English and Spanish from formal to prison slang to dialect. In other words, this is Sanchez' own language, one rich with experience, emotion, and meaning. After a brief foreword by Nicolas Kanellos and a self-introductory poem by Sanchez, the poems are arranged chronologically, divided into two sections. Part one, "La Pinta/ The joint" surveys the writer's "nine years of prison and hurts," full of anger, sensitivity, and engagement. Out on parole, between two sentences, he works in a factory and notes that compared to the factory, the prison "was understandable/ after all, convicts commit crimes/but what crimes do the poor commit/to be sentenced by fate/to toil out empty lives." Part two, "Barrios of the World" continues to speak to the indignities people are forced to suffer, but it speaks to joy also. In "Ayer, Ay, Ayer" Sanchez writes, "i felt/ some of the rancid bitterness/of nine scabby ycars/flake off." And joy rises from the contemplation of children in general and the poet's children in particular: "the power of embraces/as well as the beauty/of familial kisses" fill the closing poems of the book. Highly recommended. -- From Independent Publisher

Edition details

• Publisher: Arte Publico Press
• Publication date: 1985
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0934770360
• ISBN 13: 9780934770361
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 95