Doża Julia [Paperback]

Alberto O. Cappas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 21, 2002

Clear. Natural. Poignant. These words accurately describe Alberto O. Cappas' work.Cappas understands the suffering and struggles of Puerto Ricans living in Mainland America as well as in Puerto Rico. His poetry traces their hopes, problems, and misconceptions from the island to the mainland where they discover that dreams do die hard.In the poem 'Suicide of a Puerto Rican Jibaro,' one need not be Puerto Rican to identify with the alienation faced when entering a cold, foreign, and jungle-like world. Cappas successfully explores what such a drastic change can mean for a Puerto Rican away from his island, where he is the majority. In '...Jibaro,' for the Puerto Rican man who emigrates to the United States, 'A million times his body was raped by the unfriendly cold... to pursue the American Dream...'Cappas is a relentless observer and commentator of what happens when a people leave their homeland, or forget where they come from, to pursue the uncertainties of the American Dream. His poetry, ironic at times, questions whether this dream does exist. In 'A Spoken Secret,' 'Light skin Puerto Ricans forget to speak Spanish... and dark skin Puerto Ricans adopt hot combs to straighten their hair.' In 'Doa Julia,' a woman is trapped like a mouse in America and so commits suicide as a last attempt to return to her homeland. And in 'Maria,' a young girl sits patiently thinking about her experiences in New York since leaving Puerto Rico and now waits 'for the overdose (of a drug) to take effect.'Of course this is not to say that all Puerto Ricans who emigrate to the United States end up killing themselves but it does show that Cappas is keenly aware of a sort of cultural and spiritual death that happens to Puerto Ricans and other Latinos when they leave the tropical scenes and adopt certain American values. In the ironic humorous poem, 'Her Boricua,' a woman buys the Moon, tax-free, and invites her relatives and friends on weekend nights to 'admire the beauty of her new possessio

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Alberto Oscar Cappas is a poet and entrepreneur in several diverse areas. He is the author of Echolalia, a collection of poems, published in 1989, author of Disintegration of the Puerto Ricans, published in 1997, and author of The Pledge: A Guide for Everyday Living, published in 2001. His poetry has been included in many publications and anthologies in the United States and Canada. Cappas is the recipient of the 'Keepers of Our Culture' Award for Literature, presented to him by the New York State Hispanic Heritage Month Committee -- on September 15, 1994.His talents and skills as a writer, interest in the human condition and concern for those socio-economic issues which impact the Puerto Rican/Latino community, have served to foster in him an active interest and involvement as a journalist. This has led to his role as co-publisher and co-editor of the Latino Village Press, a monthly publication designed to educate and inform the Puerto Rican/Latino community about the importance of going into business and developing their own economic institutions and infrastructures.His accomplishments and achievements lists him as the founder and Chairperson of the AOC Speakers Bureau, the only Latino and African American speakers bureau in the country (now known as A and he was co-founder of A Place for Poets, a national publication which featured aspiring Latino and other emerging writers and poets.Further, his works have achieved wide interests, growing appeal and numerous accolades. It should be noted that his work has been featured and preserved in the City of Buffalo's new Metro subway system, with a commissioned work by the Niagara Frontier's Transportation Authority of an artistic 'vignette' with two other Latino artists. The work is a thirty-foot steel tile mural that reflects the search for a sense of belonging in this city. Also, his early works have been included in the renowned Schomburg Library's archives.Alberto O. Cappas is an alumnus of the State University of Ne

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: AuthorHouse (October 21, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1403307377
• ISBN-13: 978-1403307378
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.7 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,076,997 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dona Julia and Other Selected Poems, October 2, 2002

By 

"nubianspeakers" (New York City, NY, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doża Julia (Paperback)

A friend of mine gave me a review copy of the book and I was completely surprised that such a talented and gifted poet exist. I've read Pedro Petri, Victor Hernandez-Cruz, Peri Thomas and other Puerto Rican poets, but this poet/writer possesses a cultural insight that brings the reader into his poetic characters. Dona Julia is pure honesty at work. The work here, although poetic, are also poetic short stories. This is one of the best book of poems I've read in a very long time. The poems are deep and relevant to today's society. Cappas is very talented and gifted. I do plan to make the book a holiday present for many of my friends. I recommend it highly.

4.0 out of 5 stars OF BEING BORICUA: SOUL, PASSION AND FIRE, October 5, 2002

By 

"aquinovale" (New York, NY, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doża Julia (Paperback)

Alberto O. Cappas, a Puerto Rican poet, writer and thinker, has captured and is able to transmit the soul of being BORICUA with his latest work, Dona Julia And Other Selected Poems (112 Pages), published by 1st Books Library - July 2002.

As the global village prepares herself to embrace the last trimester of 2002, a year after that somber morning of September 11, 2002, I read Alberto's latest collection of poems amidst the noisy and tranquility of Central Park's 59th Street and Fifth Avenue Pond. Amidst the escape of a jungle made of concrete, smog and stress, I read and savored his poems slowly...Alberto's latest collection of poems are electrifying and a wake-up call to all New Yorkers -- not just BORICUAS.

I heard, one after the other, the voices of BORICUAS in the mainland calling things, events, places and people what they are-with the charm and openness of el Jibaro (countryman) of Puerto Rican mountains. Objects and players are what they are---without masks and presumptions. His poetry is amazingly vivid and extremely descriptive. In "Her Borinquen" he shares the ingenuity and beauty of being a Boricua in the United States:

Dona Rivera bought the moon and the best part is that it is tax-free...

The essence of the Puerto Rican experience against the callousness and coldness of the mainland experience, only in America someone will sell the moon. Back in Puerto Rico the moon belongs to everyone: the jibaros, the coqui, and of course all Puerto Ricans. Her Borinquen captures the Puerto Rican experience versus the cold Corporate America reality. Corporate tendencies reflected in the way we live, where greed and dishonesty rule.

Poem after poem characters become real people, fiction is a concern of Hollywood. Alberto really captures and shares the urban BORICUA experience in his Images...

Morning unfolds
Urban concrete jungle
Far from tropical images for tropical people
Weekend----leisured stretch
Engraved scars
Visible to the gringo eye
Gilbert exploring with coke
His introduction to
"Being cool"
Overdosed into wasteland
"What a story!"

Every poem in his Dona Julia And Other Selected Poems represents the BORICUA experience in the mainland, where despite the colonial experience and presence of Uncle Sam, many Puerto Ricans work hard to cherish, treasure and preserve the pride, and joy of being as BORICUA as El Coqui. Cappas and his Ganas capture the warrior spirit in every word.

Alberto's work reflect the angst of being Boricua in a non-Puerto Rican Universe, where humans are not seen nor treated as equals. Thus, being Superheroes is out of the question. His To the Batman Man evokes the pain of being regarded as a commonwealth citizen:

It's time you open your eyes
To the world and see for yourself
I know that you can hear
But refuse to listen
I know that you can feel
But refuse to touch...

He does the same for the female struggle and the Puerto Rican women experience in Lady in Red:

Your smile
Haunted with painful thoughts
Darkness can not conceal your light

Read them, live them, enjoy them and most importantly share them. To me, particularly Dona Julia evokes a reflective soul with a poignant mind. A humanist calls for generations to follow in the voice of Alberto O. Cappas.

His voice, vision and passion transcends race, gender, and affiliation barriers. There is nothing, which escapes him or alludes him. Cappas and his Dona Julia And Other Selected Poems reflects the whole world of being BORICUA, an urban warrior, a hummingbird of hope, dreams and love.

Dona Julia And Other Selected Poems is a must have and a gem to share.