My Graduation Speech by Tato Laviera

MY GRADUATION SPEECH

i think in spanish

i write in english

i want to go back to puerto rico,

but i wonder if my kink could live

in ponce, mayagüez and carolina

tengo las venas aculturadas 

escribo in spanglish

abraham in español

abraham in english

tato in spanish

“taro” in english

tonto in both languages

how are you?

¿cómo estás?

i don’t know if i’m coming

or si me fui ya

si me dicen barranquitas, yo reply,

“¿con qué se come eso?”

si me dicen caviar, i digo,

“a new pair of converse sneakers.”

ahí supe que estoy jodío

ahí supe que estamos jodíos

english or spanish

spanish or english

spanenglish

now, dig this:

hablo lo inglés matao

hablo lo español matao

no sé leer ninguno bien

so it is, spanglish to matao

what i digo

¡ay, virgen, yo no sé hablar!

American Sonnet by Wanda Coleman

AMERICAN SONNET
rejection can kill you.
it can force you to park outside neon-lit
liquor stores and finger the steel of
your contemplation. It can even make you
rob yourself.
(when does the veteran of one war fail to appreciate the vet of another?)
the ragged scarecrow lusts in the midst of
a fallow field.
and the lover who prances in circles envies me
my moves/has designs on my gizzard/ kicks shit.

this is the city we've come to
all the lights are red all the poets are dead
and there are no norths.

Cause and Effect by Peter Spiro

CAUSE AND EFFECT

Cause you are poor

you go to public school.

Cause public school is free

you get a lousy education.

Cause you get a lousy education

you are uneducated.

Cause you are uneducated

you are treated with contempt.

Cause you are treated with contempt

you are contemptuous of others.

Case you are contemptuous of others

you do not abide by the rules.

Cause you do not abide by the rules

you do not have a job.

Cause you do not have a job

you steal.

Cause you steal

you go to prison.

Cause you go to prison

your life is wasted.

Cause your life is wasted

you are angry.

Cause you are angry

you are dangerous.

Cause you are dangerous you are a bad effect.

And you are destroyed

cause you were a bad effect

cause you were dangerous

cause you were angry

cause your life was wasted

cause you went to prison

cause you stole

cause you didn’t have a job

cause you did not abide by the rules

cause you were contemptuous of others

cause you were treated with contempt

cause you were uneducated

cause you got a lousy education

cause you went to public school

cause you were poor.

http://sitemaker.umich.edu/nuyoricanpoetscafe/borders

 Analysis of poem:

Cause and Effect is a sorrowful piece that shines light on the borders that exist in society, forcing one down a prescribed path of certain fate.  There are borders that exist around poor children that force them to attend public schools, and often the public schools in impoverished areas provide a subpar education.  On and on the list goes until ultimately it ends in devastation as a wasted life in prison.  The borders are an unfortunate side effect of Códigos Culturales that determine the way people of certain class and status are treated and looked upon.

Sons by Hal Sirowitz

SONS

We’re Jewish, Father said.

So we don’t believe in Christ.

If God wanted us to worship Jesus

he would have arranged for us to be born

into an Italian family. I have nothing

against Him. He was probably a very nice man.

You have to give Him credit for trying.

A lot of people still believe He’s the Son of God.

I don’t know what He had against His real father.

But if you ever did that to me,

said you were someone else’s son, I’d be insulted.

Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe by Miguel Algarin and Bob Holman

Compiled by poets who have been at the center of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in New York City, Aloud! showcases the work of the most innovative and accomplished word artists from around America.

Burning Down the House: Selected Poems from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe National Slam Champions

Burning Down the House: Selected Poems from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe National Slam Champions

"Faced with the surging popularity of spoken word and the poetry slam, The Academy of American Poets, long known for its gala reading series, was forced in 1995 to reevaluate its approach to their mission of creating a wider audience of contemporary poetry."

"After a year of planning, the Academy launched National Poetry Month in April of 1996."

GUY LECHARLES GONZALEZ

America's On Sale by Alix Olson

AMERICA'S ON SALE!

ATTENTION SHOPPERS!
attention 9 to 5 folk, cell-phone masses,
the "up and coming" classes,
attention sports-utility,
plastic-surgery suburbanites,
viagra-popping, Gucci-shopping urbanites,
attention George Clooney loonies,
Promise Keeper sheep,
stockbroker sleep-walkers,
big investment talkers,
Ricki Lake-watchers,
attention Walmart congregation,
shop til you drop generation,
ATTENTION NATION!
AMERICA'S ON SALE!

we've unstocked the welfare pantry
to restock the Wall Street gentry
it's economically elementary,
cause values don't pay,
yes, American dreams are on permanent layaway,
(there was limited availability anyway)
so the Statue of Liberty's being dismantled,
$10 a piece to sit on your mantle or hang on your wall
by the small Somalian child
you bought from Sally Struthers
sisters and brothers, it's now or never,
these deals won't last forever—
AMERICA'S ON SALE!
(restrictions may apply if you're black, gay or female.)

and shoppers,
global perspective is ninety-nine percent off
cause most of the world don't count to us
our ethic inventory's low
cause moral business has been slow,
yes, the values-company is moving to Mexico—
and ALL ETHICS MUST GO!
it's a remote control America that's on sale
cause standing up for justice couldn't compare
to clicking through it from a lazy chair:
Answer: jerry, montel, oprah
Question: folks who really care. . . . for $1,000,000,000
in this new mcveggie burger world order
where the mainstream scene has an alternative theme.
sugar daddy and ginger spice and all cultures spliced,
that's what music is made of when
AMERICA'S ON SALE!

national health care's one-hundred percent off!!
and medicare's in the 50% bin,
so you can buy half an operation
when AMERICA'S ON SALE!
and there's a close-out bid to determine
which religion will win
all the neon flashing signs of sin
the Christian Coalition is bidding high
shoppers, you ask WHY?
who needs a higher power when you've got purchasing
power to corner and market
one human mold.
that's right—real family values are being UNDERSOLD!!

and it's open hunting season for the NRA!
so there's a special uzi discount—only today!
Gun control?? We say—
black bear, black man, blow em both away!
and the Giuliani welfare mamas are on the auction block again,
we're closing out this country the way we began.
so step up for our fastest selling commodity
no waiting lines for HIV,
condoms and needle-exchange are a hard to sell thing (to the right wing)
so if you're a druggie or a fag—
rent-to-own your own body bag NOW!
WHILE AMERICA'S ON SALE!

we're selling fast to the AT&T CEO,
he's stealing all utilities, he doesn't pass go,
and collects $1,000,000 anyway,
he's the Monopoly winner
cause he bought the whole board
and we bought the whole game
now no price is the same!
cause inflation's up on the CEO ego
and power's deflated as far as we go:
cause Nike bought the revolution
and law schools bought the constitution,
and tommy hilfiger bought the red, white, and blue,
a flag shirt for fifty dollars,
the one who's being burned is you!
Marlboro bought what it means to be a man
and Lexus equals power—get it while you can
and Maybelline bought beauty
and new york's buying rudy
and Mastercard gold's bought the national soul
Broadway bought talent and called it CATS!
the Republicans bought out the Democrats
they liquidated all asses in a fat white donkey sale—
now it's buy one shmuck, get one shmuck free
in the capitalist party!

and there's nothing left to get in the way
of a full blue-light blow-out
of the U.S. of A.!
there's a no-nothing back guarantee.
a zero-year warranty,
when you buy this land of the Fritos, Ruffles, Lays,
this home of the braves and the reds and the slaves!
so call 1-800 i don't care about shit
or www.FUCK ALL OF IT.
to receive your credit for the fate of our nation—
interest is at an alltime low

so with these sales-pitching verses
i should win for customer service
i'm like CRAZY EDDIE—
i'm GOING INSANE IN AMERICA!!
where the almighty dollars sparkle and shine,
this Starbucks Land that's yours and mine.
but America's selling fast shoppers,
BUY IT ALL WHILE YOU CAN!
cause America's been downsized, citizens,
and you're all fired.