Nonfiction / poetry
72 pages
5 stars
After reading one poem online, I ordered Slow Lightning and pre-ordered guillotine. I absolutely loved Slow Lightning, and as I try to do, succeeded in forgetting I had another of his books on pre-order. It arrived the other day. Christmas in August! I devoured the book in two nights. I could have done it in one, but I wanted to savor it, at least a little. I will reread it again, and again, and the next time, I’ll not only read it slowly, as is proper, I’ll have my Spanish dictionary beside me.
Yes, some poems are completely in Spanish, and many (most?) have Spanish in them. It is not necessary to read and understand Spanish to taste the beauty of the words or grasp the meaning.
The poems are gut-wrenchers in their beauty and their pain. The son of Mexican immigrants, he sings the celebration of surviving the Sonora Desert, of surviving life. He also sings the lamentations of the immigrant, those who are still in the desert, of the man different, of the self-inflicted pain seeking to give glory.
Corral plays not only with words and notes, but with style and form. Some of the poems are out of focus, as if being read through tears. One is written in two loose columns that merge, separate, life, death. One poem is all names, out of focus, hard to read. I cried.
