Nuyorican Angel of Wordsmithing by Miguel Algarín

Nuyorican Angel of Wordsmithing
(Note for a Poet)

I. Nuyorican Aesthetics:

    It is a moral imperative to give poetry to the people. It is a media twenty-first century picturetel event when a young poet can read on Unplugged, transferring via MTV the heat of passion. Electronic verse has changed the craft of writing poetry. We can interact live with Tokyo, London and Rome simultaneously; once the poet reaches millions, he/she learns how a verse can heal human pain.

II. Illness, Inspiration and Metaphor:

    a. Use the first person instead of the third if it isn’t pathos.
    b. Imagining Pain and Pleasure
              i) without becoming maudlin or melodramatic;
              ii) without eliciting pity from the reader; and
              iii) provoke a feeling of interaction between the person who is ill or enraptured (the metaphor-maker) and the reader’s imagination.

III. Cultural Worker: A Humble Servant

IV. Poet’s Burial:

    a. Instruction’s for ceremony should be written as a poem.
    b. The community walks in a processional honoring its bard.

V. Meditation:

    a. Concentration:                          Empty the mind totally.
    b. Analytical Concentration:           Put one objective in mind.
                                                       Keep all other concerns out.

© Miguel Algarín
from Love Is Hard Work: Memorias de Loisaida/Poems

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1 Comment

  1. This reminds me of the day I purchased that book. We were at B&N on Union Square looking through the poetry/Graphic Novel secition. Its cool that they are so close to each other. We were looking for a poem by a queer poet for Q2 or whatever that format had as a name at the time. You suggested Algarin and I took the bait. Thank you Sen Sei. It was lovely to see you brother.

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