From the Other Side of Night: New and Selected Poems

by Francisco X. Alarcón

On the other side of night, Francisco Alarcón is waiting. One of Chicano literature's premier poets, Alarcón has brought his luminous images to the page in such acclaimed volumes as Sonnets to Madness and Other Misfortunes and Snake Poems. Now he has assembled the best of his work from fifteen years, along with fourteen new poems, in a book that distills his magical sense of reality into a cup brimming with passion. Raised in Guadalajara and now living in the San Francisco Bay area, Alarcón sees that " 'Mexican' / is not / a noun / or an / adjective / 'Mexican' / is a life / long / low-paying / job." Participating in a poetic tradition that goes back to the mystic Spanish poets of the sixteenth century, he brings us sonnets infused with romance and tenderness—and shorter poems that are direct and hard-hitting commentaries on American society, as he cries out for "a more godlike god," one "who spends nights / in houses / of ill repute / and gets up late / on Saturdays." Alarcón invokes both the mysteries of Mesoamerica and the "otherness" of his gay identity. "My skin is dark / as the night / in this country / of noontime," he writes, "but my soul / is even darker / from all the light / I carry inside." In lyrical poems open to wide interpretation, he transcends ethnic concerns to address social, sexual, and historical issues of concern to all Americans. The fourteen new poems in From the Other Side of Night offer startling new commentaries on life and love, sex and AIDS. Shifting effortlessly between English and Spanish—and even Nahuatl—Alarcón demonstrates the gift of language that has earned him both a wide readership and the admiration of fellow poets. With this book, he invites new readers to meet him where the darkness is palpable and the soul burns bright.

Genres: Poetry

236 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2002

Reviews

[Daniel Klawitter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Order in the Home

you complain
because I leave
damp towels
on the bed

all things
have their place
you lecture me
gathering

the pile
of books
off the kitchen
table

I hurry
and cover
with my body
the underwear

that gleam
like a smile
on the red
living-room sofa

--Francisco X. Alarcón

[Shawn Aebi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very helpful bilingual collection of poems from a Chicano author, telling stories of everyday activities and the routes taken by the Hispanic community to be treated with respect they deserve.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a little while to get used to his style (more spare than what I usually read) but then really appreciated the breath in them. Will follow up with individual collections next.

[James F · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alarc�_n is a contemporary Chicano/feminist/gay poet. I had never heard of him (I read this for a challenge with the word 'night' in the title, and this was the most interesting the library had) and I don't generally get enthusiastic over modern poetry, so I wasn't expecting much. I was wrong. He is an incredible poet.

The book is an anthology drawn from seven of his earlier collections. As such, it is somewhat uneven, and I didn't care as much for his love poetry (which seemed vague) or his Aztec poetry (he includes old Aztec religious invocations interspaced with his own poems) as for his political poetry. Although the afterword by a professor of Chicano literature calls several of the love poems "explicitly homoerotic" even rereading them with this in mind I could not see any hint as to the sex of the speaker or the person addressed. Apparently "gray hair" is exclusive to gays? There are some poems lamenting AIDS victims which are obviously written from the perspective of a gay person. But I disagreed with many of the professor's interpretations of all the poems, especially one of my favorites, "Silence". Another favorite was "Oraci�_n", a politico-religious poem. Also "Una peque��a gran victoria", a feminist poem, and ""Mexican' is not a noun" which is a political poem. Actually there were many great poems.

The anthology is bilingual, both in that it includes both English poems, and Spanish poems with a translation on the next page, and in that some poems are written in a combination of English and Spanish like the macaronic poets did with Latin and modern languages.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know what to say other than this book is such a painfully beautiful collection of poems. I think everyone should read it!

[ACRL]

Read by ACRL Member of the Week Roberto C. Delgadillo. Learn more about Roberto on the ACRL Insider blog.