Friday, November 18, 2016

Poet Laureate of the United States, Rubinstein Library, November, 2016



How about that!  The U. S. Poet Laureate is Hispanic.  Juan Felipe Herrera was part of the Chicano literary movement in the 1970's.

His most powerful words last night were:  "We can end the violence with poetry," and he describes himself as a "hands-on poet."

The son of migrant workers, Herrera was a contemporary of Allen Ginsberg and eventually got his MFA from the University of Iowa at the age of 40.  He was a professor at UC Riverside which now has supplied him with a room where he can pursue his love of words, art, and music.

He appeared at Rubenstein Library last night to a "full house."  On the walls above were past presidents and illuminati of Duke, including Julian Able.  The only thing that detracted from Herrera's appearance was the rambling, hard-to-understand intro by a Duke professor.

He included the phrase "waking up is the thing...."  Loved that!  He advises embellishing one's words with kindness and stated:  "You have a beautiful voice and you can use it to express yourself in any way you want."  I FELT those words.

His poems take me back to the tales of Tlingits and customs of the Northwest Indians.  He spoke of looking at a hawk eye to eye and "there was infinity looking right at me."

He read his poem "The Ant" which I liked a lot.

He read about Chad, how 2 thousand fled, 2 million dead.

He read a poem about Mohammad Ali...there was audience participation.  Brilliant!

He spoke of "storm writing" -- writing in the heat of passion and fire.  Describes himself as a "hands-on poet."

He wrote a children's book:  "Jack Rabbit's Green Onions and Witches' Stew"

Herrera's voice is a poem itself.  He is part artist, part Groucho Marx.

I spoke with him afterward about Caesar Chavez -- he never got a chance to meet Chavez because  was always chatting with admirers.

Herrera got a standing ovation.  His poetry is full of life and humor and audience participation.



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