miller's crossing

Is it always the poets who defend their art? Is it only the poets who are saying, "We need poetry"? I have a vision of poets queueing up to take their turn to stand on a soapbox in the middle of the Saturday market in Madison and proclaim to whomever will listen, "You need us." Beseeching among ripe melons and bright flowers, "Listen: We have something for your ears, to soothe you. Something for your mind, to spark you. Something for your heart, to heal you." They will gently intone to the shoppers caressing waxy purple eggsplants, "Listen to us. You may not believe this, but you will be better to pause a moment and consider our words. And then maybe you will join us."

Writer Luis Rodríguez, speaking and reading his poetry at the World Social Form, emphasized the role of his art form. “Poetry opens sacred spaces,” he said. “Poetry opens doors we didn't have before. Poems need to be part of the struggle.” The Progressive magazine's Liz DiNovella, a dear compañera whom I admire greatly, has been blogging about the scene in Caracas for the magazine.

She writes:

In one poem, [Rodríguez] asked: “What good is a country if you can’t eat? Hungry people have no country.” And he read a poem he wrote for his parents, who were immigrants from Mexico, called “Welcome to America.” Here is a line from it: “When it comes to not having a house, there are no borders.”

After reading several political poems, Rodríguez left us with a love poem he wrote for his wife. “Love keeps us moving,” he said. “Love has to be at the center of this movement.”

Thanks Liz for sharing the words of a poet.