Speaking At A Time/Hablando A La Vez --Amelia Diaz Ettinger

Poetry

96 pages

5 Stars

This book was a gift, by a person who knew I loved poetry, but had no idea about my passion for poetry in two languages! I keep hoping someday I will learn a second language, and how better than by reading poetry? How better than by reading Hablando A La Vez?? English on the left, Spanish on the right.

I don't know which is my favorite poem, but I keep going back to A Poem for Lorca. All of these poems speak to me, some just a little more insistently than others.

There are poems about the town of Caguas, where the author was raised, Sundays with her father at the racetrack, and poems trying to explain the word 'heritage' to her daughter.

There is love in these poems, there is loss, there is grief, and there are smiles. Some of the poems reminded me of one of my favorite writers, John Phillip Santos. The whole book is honest and strong. This is a book I will keep on my poetry shelf, and read often. Then, again, I may keep it by my bed where I can reach it on those nights I can't sleep and wish to talk with a friend.