Our lives are rivers / Mark Smith-Soto.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Smith-Soto, Mark I. (Mark Israel), 1948-2023.

Series:

Contemporary poetry series (Orlando, Fla.)

University of Central Florida contemporary poetry series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Costa Rican Americans--Poetry.

Costa Rican Americans.

Genre:

Poetry.

Physical Description:

68 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Gainesville : University Press of Florida, [2003]

Summary:

Our Lives Are Rivers traces the spiritual journey of the Costa Rican-American poet, an unabashed lover and celebrator of life. Taking its title from the Spaniard Jorge Manrique's most famous elegy, this collection is a meditation on time, memory, and the fleeting nature of life. Smith-Soto exercises the artist's prerogative to give shape to his experience, reaching beyond the merely autobiographical to explore the rich complexities of his cultural heritage in lyrics as varied and technically accomplished as they are heartfelt. Born in his father's hometown of Washington, D.C., and raised in Costa Rica until the age of eleven, Smith-Soto is representative of a large number of U.S. writers who fall outside the conventional definitions of the Hispanic. His poems are imbued with the sights, sounds, smells, and textures of his family-rich childhood in Costa Rica. In compelling language that communicates clearly without sacrificing mystery, his poems contribute a new and passionate note to the growing chorus of America's Hispanic poetry.

Contents:

Ayer ...

Tomorrow, Yesterday 3

Why I Am Afraid of Physical Harm 5

Isabel Soto Borbon 6

Tulia Soto de Smith 9

The Tree My Mother Saved 12

Lesson 13

Frieze 14

Costa Rican Medicine 16

First Communion 18

Timex 20

Fender Bender 21

Mate 22

Learning English 23

First Movement 24

Witness 25

Aunt Aida Born Again 26

Claudia and Love 27

The Strange Maid 28

Dona Telela's Poem 29

Flashback 30

A Visit Back 32

White Time 34

Hoy ...

Nude 37

Six Years Dead 38

Birthday Poem 39

Dia de los Muertos 40

Making Room 41

Backyard with Dog 42

Of Mere Being 43

Tick 44

Crossroads Snap 45

Cafe of Mirrors 46

Easter Wings 47

Hanging on for Dear Life 48

Long-Distance Call 49

As Good As It Gets 50

Y siempre ...

Peregrine 53

"Ricordati di me dio dell'amore" 54

"Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing" 55

What I Mean 57

The Parting 58

Watercolor of a Spanish Wall 59

In a Country That No Longer Exists 60

Latino 61

Latino Born on the Brooklyn Bridge 62

Green Mango Collage 63

Bubble 64

After Another Death 65

Before We Knew 67.

ISBN:

0813026342

0813026350

OCLC:

51587046