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Imagine the Angels of Bread: Poems

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At it's best, poetry illuminates the soul, bring the day to day up to the level of the angels.Martin Espada is an astonishing poet,and his books raise consciousness without becoming agitprop. The Title poem which serves as an introduction,is a scalding brilliant manifesto for all the dispossesed"This is ther year that squatters evict landlords/gazing like admirals from the rail of the roofdeck or levitating hands in praise of steam in the shower;/this is the year that shawled refugees deport judges/who stare at their swollen feet as filed are stamped with their destination/..." The poems that follow are equally superb,describing his father on a picket line, an owl in a tenament compared to God,Thomas jefferson and the declaration of food stamps, and others. Mr. Espada is a major poet , and a very very good one. His imagery is first rate,his fire and suppleness apparent in each poem. A wonderful collection by a superb poet and observer. Highest recommendation!

Espada's Imagine the Angels of Bread is an incredible collection of poetry in which Espada protests social inequalities by depicting the Puerto Rican subaltern with graphic bluntness but uncompromised dignity. In addition, Espada's straight-forward tone and sensual imagery convey a raw pleasure in the Puerto Rican American experience. Espada's portrayal of injustice, told with an underlying sharp sarcastic humor raises social and political questions while voicing the poverty and anonymity of a marginalized social class. Espada's poems provide narratives of a voiceless class, critiquing an elitist society which oftentimes overlooks the significance of such stories. In this way, Espada provides a class which society oftentimes marginalizes to the point of invisibility with a voice that is both accusatory and visionary.
The brutal and violent imagery intermingled with straightforward narrative depicts controversial political and social issues with a sharp wit and startling poignancy. "Sing in the Voice of a God Even Atheists Can Hear," a poem addressing the arrest of poet Demetria Martinez for poetry allegedly illustrating her support of illegal immigrants, provides a blunt and stinging social commentary through its imagery and tone: "The prosecutor spoke `smuggling' as if two pregnant refugees were bundles of heroin, not fleeing a war of slit bellies. . ."
However, the true power and gift of Espada's work lies in his ability not to condense complex social situations into abrupt, everyday language, but rather his ability to transform the grotesqueness of everyday. Consequently, the author's voice is not limited to being accusatory, but rather attains a transcendent prophetic significance. In one of the collection's final poems, "Because Clemente Means Merciful," Espada depicts the birth and uncertain future of his young son. Although Espada does initially provide a sharp critique of society in his portrayal of the medical society treating his son, "the pediatrician who never called, the yawning intern, the hospital roommate's father from Guatemala, ignored by the doctors," the poem closes on a note of hope. The speaker is able to transcend a lack of resources and understands the significance of his son's emergence from sickness. Although his accusatory tone acknowledges a continued future of inequality, "I know someday you'll stand beside the Guatemalan fathers, speak in the tongue of all the shunned faces," the speaker ends on a powerful divine message of hope, "[You will] breathe in a music we have never heard, and live by the meaning of your name."

In this politically-charged, often raw collection, Espada presents a distinctly ethnic poetry which exposes the plight of the Latino in America. Despite its positive project, Espada occasionally stumbles on his own aggressive nature; the political outshines the poetic. This aggressive politicizing, in fact, often hurts his project, as the reduction of poetics many times ends up reducing his politics to simple sloganeering. Espada, despite my reservations, is still a poet worth investigating, as he often does allow the personal and the poetic to supercede his poltiticking. In fact, it is in these cases where his politics truly shine and the project of elevating the Latino peoples seems to take off. In cases such as this, where the personal allows the reader, especially those not as familiar with the Latino situation in America (such as myself), to enter into a dialogue with his work, Espada's project reaches the very audience whom he at times seems to be struggling against. This struggle, in fact, may very well be what causes the diminution of his poetry which I discussed earlier; Espada, fearful of making concessions to the majority and thus alienating his Latino audience or, worse, devaluing his political project, deliberately sabotages many of the works in this collection. Such a harsh atmosphere is created for the non-Latino through such violent political and poetic upheaval, that the gems to be found are often missed. However, this collection, though challenging, does lead to a good deal of reward, so long as one has the fortitude and foresight to sift through some of its more didactic pieces.

Martin Espada is an angel. Martin Espada is a messenger. Martin Espada is a poet who will not be silenced. Imagine the Angels of Bread, Espada's most recent work, reveals his immutable message of social responsibility, a message that the Puerto-Rican declamador (poet of the people) proclaims vehemently, even harshly at times, because he can, because he lives it himself each day. Espada begins his poem "Imagine the Angels of Bread", the first in his book by the same name, insisting that "This is the year that squatters evict landlords." And here, in a single line, Espada's pen makes us squirm. By using words like "blood-slick beast" and "pesticide fog", Espada creates real poetry, poetry whose beauty is not found in the flowery language of metaphor and abstraction but, instead, in the unveiling of the ugliness and banality surrounding us. This Puerto-Rican's poetry is hard, gritty even; its beauty is found precisely in the harsh truths and grim realities that he forces us to see, to really see. Indeed, the verse of this lawyer-turned-poet arrests us; it is impossible to read Espada's openly political poetry and not feel him prodding us, stiffly and unmistakably, toward action. Espada wants nothing more than for his emotionally charged, political poems to make us writhe with a discomfort so great that we cannot be still until we have changed the world. Martin Espada writes poems to remember those same people that many would like to forget-the "dark-skinned men," the "squatters," the people on food stamps, and the "shawled refugees." He speaks on their behalf, and says, with confidence, what we all know to be true, "this is not okay."

I HAVE NEVER BEEN A FAN OF POETRY. BUT ONCE I STARTED READING SOME OF YOUR ENTRIES I INSTANTLY BEGAN TO ENJOY READING POETRY. THE WAY YOU USE ENGLISH AND SPANISH JUST MAKE THE POEM FLOW SO WELL. i REALLY ENJOYED READING THIS BOOK AND HOPE TO READ MAORE OF YOUR WORKS.

I never got into poetry before, but in Chicago I bought a copy of Will Work For Peace, a really cool anthology, and I was so touched by Martin Espada's poems in that that I went out about bought this book. Wow. Martin Espada is a treasure. His poems cut to the soul.