Customer Reviews

Poetry Like Bread (Old Edition)

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Since 1975, Curbstone Press has published works by a most unique group of writers: political activists, revolutionaries, guerrilla combatants, as well as ordinary working people, from the U.S., Latin America, and throughout the world. What all share is an affinity for that place "where art and politics intersect." Unique among poetry anthologies, POETRY LIKE BREAD contains works by poets whose imaginations are political. These are poets whose works are united in a desire for a world where human needs are met and justice is pursued.

"POETRY LIKE BREAD is an engrossing, readable, and highly passionate poetry anthology...It gives us poetry that sustains, that nourishes, and that is available to all." --Poetry Flash

"These works demonstrate with eloquence that the task of poetry-and all literature-is to challenge us, to illuminate our world and our lives, to force us to examine that which we take for granted and to act in solidarity for something new, to 'give name to the nameless so it can be thought.'" --The Nation

"...engrossing, readable, and highly passionate poetry." --Bloomsbury Review

Ever since I read City of Coughing and Dead Radiators, I wanted to read more poetry by Martin Espada. Poetry Like Bread isn't a collection of his poetry though. This is a collection of Curbstone Press poets -- most of which have written about politics and other controversial issues since the seventies -- from various parts of the Americas. The poems are intense, thought provoking, profound and beautiful. I have never read poetry like this. Some messages were as clear as day, others required reading between the lines, but they were all incredible. My favorites are "The Rivers," by Claribel Alegria; "The Torturer's Apprentice," by Doug Anderson; "Poverty," by Noemi Ayala; and "The Voices of the Dead," by Julia de Burgos. I am glad I was able to read the Spanish version of some of the poems. Sometimes words and meanings get lost in translation -- although the translator did a wonderful job writing some of the poems in English. I recommend this gem most highly if you are a fellow poetry enthusiast.