Some of the Light: New and Selected Poems

by Tim Z. Hernandez

25 years of writing from one of our most gifted Latinx poets, taking the reader from his early exploration of machismo to new work on life as a single father, immigrant detention, and spiritual inquiry.

Some of the Light: New & Selected gathers the first 25 years of Hernandez's award-winning poetry, offering a glimpse at the trajectory of a rising contemplative American author.

At its core, Some of the Light contains collected poems of love, told through the lens of a single father raising two children alone in the borderlands. They are at times intimate and confessional, telescoping from personal relationships to spiritual inquiry, from human rights to the environment, while between the cracks of the poems are poetic contemplations, chronicling the passing days of the pandemic. This latest work by Hernandez reveals a writer who former U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera calls "A titan--unafraid to take to the road, get his hands dirty, to fully immerse himself in the world of his subjects."

Some of the Light is a part of Beacon Press's Raised Voices Poetry Series, established in 2021 to raise historically excluded voices and perspectives, and to celebrate  poetry's ability to access truths in ways no other form can.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction

184 pages, Paperback

Published March 28, 2023

Reviews

[Octavio Solis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tim Hernandez is currently riding the wave of acclaim for his new nonfiction book They Call You Back, but I think it's his poetry that has defined his artfulness for me. This volume containing both new verse and some selections from his previous publications is superbly put together. His new works are a necessary response to the strange new dialectic arising from the Pandemic and the way it has isolated us. But they remain distinctly personal testimonials to heartbreak, loneliness and the hardship of being a single father to two children in a new city (El Paso) caught in the cruelty of childrens' detention on the border. He has a daughter named Rumi, but he feels like the new Rumi for our dislocated times, as I find myself stunned by the sudden epigrammatic truths that slip through the wounds of his sorrow. Gorgeous poetry.

[Patricia N. McLaughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five-star fabulous! In this exquisite collection, the poet maps well-worn paths of inner terrain, all-too-familiar places, and some uncharted relationship territory with the consummate skill of a masterful cartographer. Remember this.

Favorite Poems:
“Ending”
“5.12.20”
“Single Parents Soliloquy (& The Joy of Kites)
“7.22.20”
“Time Capsule”
“Unqualified Poem”
“Ish”
“Her Majesty’s Last Stand”
“Variations on ‘This Land’”
“Refraction #6”
“Sleepless Nights (Thich Nhat Hahn Is Dying)”
“1.2.21”
“A Grocery Store”
“The Talk (Talisman for Salvador)”
“Home”
“Natural Takeover of Small Things”
“Instructions for the Altar”
“Flying Parallel”
“My Name Is Hernandez”
“Adios, Fresno”
“How to Get to the San Joaquin River”
“Perched on the Face”
“If I Could Tell You”

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a much-needed breath of fresh air. Much like the poetry of Richard Blanco, I appreciated Hernandez's raw beauty. My favorite poems in this book are the 2020 poems that walk us through that strange year, "A Basic Understanding", "Settling", and "Unqualified Poem". Beautiful use of language!

[Nan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beacon knows how to pick a poet. Hernandez is the Southwest at its best, America at its even better. He's insightful, empathetic, in tune with land and water and people. My favorite section was "Some of the Light". Here Hernandez brings the pandemic back into view, bends, refracts it. He reminds us how it has changed us, how it changes us still.

[Addison · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This collection was a beautiful and moving experience, filled with heartfelt verses that resonated deeply. Each poem felt like a glimpse into something raw and true, making it a joy to read and reflect on!

[R.K. Cowles · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/4 stars

[Elishah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The spirit of El Paso and life on the border is captured beautifully in these pages. Not to mention, Hernandez’s humor elevates his poetry. I can’t wait to gift this to loved ones this Christmas!

[Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️