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Poeta En San Francisco
Poetry. Asian American Studies. POETA EN SAN FRANCISCO is the winner of the highly prestigious James Laughlin Award for 2005, awarded annually from the Academy of American Poetry and the only prize for a second book of poetry in the United States. Although Reyes' first book was not as widely known as the first book of many of the other eligible poets, the judges nevertheless courageously chose this risky, radical, and deserving second book put out by an energetic but very small publisher. Reyes received her undergraduate education at UC Berkeley, where she also served as Editor-in-Chief of the Filipino American literary publication Maganda. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her first book, Gravities of Center, was published by Arkipelago Books (SF) in 2003.
- GenresPoetry
105 pages, Paperback
First published June 30, 2005
About the author
Barbara Jane Reyes
22 books114 followersAuthor of Gravities of Center, Poeta en San Francisco, Diwata, To Love as Aswang, Invocation to Daughters, and Letters to a Young Brown Girl.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
May 21, 2017
I really liked Poeta En San Francisco, although I also know that there is a fair amount I missed in this trilingual do-I-call-it-a-fantasia? of a book. While the bulk of the book is in English, there is a smattering of Spanish and a slightly larger (I think, although this could just be because I could understand the Spanish) complement of lines in what appears to be an indigenous language of the Philippines. I can't tell whether the non-latin characters have the same text as the sections in the latin alphabet that seem to be neither English nor Spanish, so I don't even really know how much of the book I was simply unable to read and understand. In spite of that, this was a well-crafted and interesting portrait of the experience of sitting in the center of a range of racial, ethnic, and cultural tensions in the contemporary United states.
The poems are bitter:
While not every piece in the collection was brilliant, they came together to form a highly effective whole, one that I am glad to have read, even if I didn't adore all of the individual poems.
The poems are bitter:
angel of racial epithet, your enemy is a dismembered fuck you in the wind. snipers collect tusks of wild boar, go native. angel of corrugated metal shacks, steel vessels spectral bodies swallowed, lulled by jungle.but not despairing:
think.
wanna peek into my notebook? there may be clues hidden in it: instructions for viewing subjective catastrophe. rules of derivation. don't gasp. don't choke. up. look up. cradle your neck from holding the gaze.
keep your eyes to the sky and think of heaven.
While not every piece in the collection was brilliant, they came together to form a highly effective whole, one that I am glad to have read, even if I didn't adore all of the individual poems.
November 28, 2023
ok. she cooked. i had english, spanish, and tagalog dictionary pages pulled up in front of me the whole time. i just read this all in one sitting over the course of 4-5 hours. striking. beautiful. i feel unwell.
September 23, 2008
What a wonderful collection of poems this is! This is one of the first, if not THE first, "meaty" (and I mean that in the best possible way) texts that I've read all semester in my pursuit of my master's of English at UH Manoa.
Gosh, there are so many things to say about this text. Let's see, for starters I'll say that I agree with Che when he says that the issue of nontranslation in these poems might be to throw the colonizers off the scent. In fact, I think that's exactly what it is. I imagine, without knowing Reyes's other work or her politics of writing, that her reasons for utilizing these various languages are to serve a number of purposes too.
In the many languages that she uses--including, of course, the Baybabyin, Tagalog, Spanish, English, and the English pronunciation guide (consider the rendition of apocalypse as the title of the poem on page 13, and of asian-phile as the title of the poem on page 84)--I imagine that Reyes is using the languages that she thinks best pronounce her various meanings, and the languages that best reach her various audiences.
I think she says it all on page 20 when she says, "in my native tongue, breath is word is spirit. / i can think of no single, adequate translation." I also love her take on outsiders' learning of other languages, which is, though difficult to bear, also very honest: "he speaks words that were never his to speak. / he does not know the gravity of such offense" (51). At the heart of her use of nontranslation, Reyes seems to be showing her readership that she is not a bridge--will not educate through glossary or context the exact definition of her various meanings (interestingly enough, the only italicization of non-English terms that I found in the collection, which she also, surprisingly, paired with definitions, was for various food items of "comidas exoticas" on page 71, perhaps the colonizers easiest-to-transverse avenue).
It's hard for me to read/talk about Poeta en San Francisco without thinking about the following quotes on WOC feminism, with which I'll close, since this publication seems so much to fit within this political vein--as, (dare I say?) a product of/answer to these still-very-relevant-today concerns. Though they're from an older publication, so many of these words still resonate with me today:
"Women of today are still being called upon to stretch across the gap . . . to educate. . . . This is an old and primary tool of all oppressors to keep the oppressed occupied with the master's concerns. . . . This is a diversion of energies and a tragic repetition of racist patriarchal thought." --Audre Lorde, "The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House"*
"[ . . . ]
The bridge I must be
Is the bridge to my own power
I must translate
My own fears
Mediate
My own weaknesses
I must be the bridge to nowhere
But my true self
And then
I will be useful"
--Kate Rushin, from "The Bridge Poem"*
"I am a woman with a foot in both worlds; and I refuse to split. I feel the necessity for dialogue. Sometimes I feel it urgently." --Cherrie L. Moraga, from "La Guera"*
pubbed in THIS BRIDGE CALLED MY BACK: WRITINGS BY RADICAL WOMEN OF COLOR, orig. published 1981; second edition 1983, repubbed 2002.
I want more of this!!!
Gosh, there are so many things to say about this text. Let's see, for starters I'll say that I agree with Che when he says that the issue of nontranslation in these poems might be to throw the colonizers off the scent. In fact, I think that's exactly what it is. I imagine, without knowing Reyes's other work or her politics of writing, that her reasons for utilizing these various languages are to serve a number of purposes too.
In the many languages that she uses--including, of course, the Baybabyin, Tagalog, Spanish, English, and the English pronunciation guide (consider the rendition of apocalypse as the title of the poem on page 13, and of asian-phile as the title of the poem on page 84)--I imagine that Reyes is using the languages that she thinks best pronounce her various meanings, and the languages that best reach her various audiences.
I think she says it all on page 20 when she says, "in my native tongue, breath is word is spirit. / i can think of no single, adequate translation." I also love her take on outsiders' learning of other languages, which is, though difficult to bear, also very honest: "he speaks words that were never his to speak. / he does not know the gravity of such offense" (51). At the heart of her use of nontranslation, Reyes seems to be showing her readership that she is not a bridge--will not educate through glossary or context the exact definition of her various meanings (interestingly enough, the only italicization of non-English terms that I found in the collection, which she also, surprisingly, paired with definitions, was for various food items of "comidas exoticas" on page 71, perhaps the colonizers easiest-to-transverse avenue).
It's hard for me to read/talk about Poeta en San Francisco without thinking about the following quotes on WOC feminism, with which I'll close, since this publication seems so much to fit within this political vein--as, (dare I say?) a product of/answer to these still-very-relevant-today concerns. Though they're from an older publication, so many of these words still resonate with me today:
"Women of today are still being called upon to stretch across the gap . . . to educate. . . . This is an old and primary tool of all oppressors to keep the oppressed occupied with the master's concerns. . . . This is a diversion of energies and a tragic repetition of racist patriarchal thought." --Audre Lorde, "The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House"*
"[ . . . ]
The bridge I must be
Is the bridge to my own power
I must translate
My own fears
Mediate
My own weaknesses
I must be the bridge to nowhere
But my true self
And then
I will be useful"
--Kate Rushin, from "The Bridge Poem"*
"I am a woman with a foot in both worlds; and I refuse to split. I feel the necessity for dialogue. Sometimes I feel it urgently." --Cherrie L. Moraga, from "La Guera"*
pubbed in THIS BRIDGE CALLED MY BACK: WRITINGS BY RADICAL WOMEN OF COLOR, orig. published 1981; second edition 1983, repubbed 2002.
I want more of this!!!
October 25, 2017
Self important garbage that pats itself on the pack for being absurdly opaque (some passages are written in dead languages, very intellectual), anti-colonialist (a very uncommon opinion), and overly chaotic. It's "modern" in that it's postmodern, but rather then making the meaning hard to decipher, it's just hard to read. By the end of the long poem the meaning will be beaten into your skull like a railroad spike. So you get all the difficulty of reading it, without the satisfaction of having to piece together a greater meaning. PASS
November 13, 2024
4.5
This collection is a vibrant exploration of linguistic and sociolinguistic politics, all wrapped up in her gorgeous, evocative poetry. Reyes skillfully weaves together personal experience and cultural identity, making you feel the heartbeat of its diverse and dynamic speaker(s). It’s a celebration of language that’s both playful and profound, and it’s a joy to read. If you’re into poetry that packs a punch while sparking reflection on language and community, diaspora, and linguistic imperialism, this book is a must-read!
This collection is a vibrant exploration of linguistic and sociolinguistic politics, all wrapped up in her gorgeous, evocative poetry. Reyes skillfully weaves together personal experience and cultural identity, making you feel the heartbeat of its diverse and dynamic speaker(s). It’s a celebration of language that’s both playful and profound, and it’s a joy to read. If you’re into poetry that packs a punch while sparking reflection on language and community, diaspora, and linguistic imperialism, this book is a must-read!
March 25, 2019
This is a book where I was struck by it, but it didn't hit me on the first read. I think that there is almost too much there, and that I was missing so much of it. The topic is absolutely powerful and what I am reading on at the moment, but, for whatever reason, it just didn't strike me fully. And thats on me. Looking forward to reflecting on the book again in a short while.
December 9, 2010
one inspiring pinay poet.
February 12, 2015
Some interesting phrases and sentiment contextually diminished on occasion by semi-trite/clichéd business regarding "Almighty Dollar", sarcastic patriotisms, and so forth.
April 14, 2025
(3.5 stars)
August 20, 2007
[on purchase] i was so excited to see this book at na mea, a local native hawaiian-oriented bookstore in honolulu. it's about time i read it- i've heard such good things, and i didn't realize it was published by tinfish, a publisher located in kaneohe, my home town. so far, very beautiful, as promised.
---
[on reading]
stunning in how passionately it grips you in a dance with not only san francisco, but with all the passion and devastation that have created this entrancing, dangerous city in reflection of this dangerous, entrancing world.
---
[on reading]
stunning in how passionately it grips you in a dance with not only san francisco, but with all the passion and devastation that have created this entrancing, dangerous city in reflection of this dangerous, entrancing world.
June 6, 2008
lovely! not to mention, the red pages interspersed... poetry like fire crackers at your feet, that leave you sort of dazzled, sort of punchdrunk, or walking funny in the morning. from "[state of emergency]", "For instance if I dream the wetness of your mouth an oyster my tongue searches for the taste of the ocean [...]" hotchy motchy. read with your mama's pancit noodle. if your mama doesn't have a pancit noodle, befriend a filipino, and you will always be fed :)
August 12, 2008
This is an amazing book and I couldn't have read it at a better time since, as of late, I been thinking a lot about ethnicity, ethics, identity, experimentation, politics, and how they intersect with my poetics.
July 2, 2022
one day she will build a temple from detritus, dust of your
crumbling empires' edicts; its walls will hold with blood and spittle,
brackish water and sun-dried grasses. within these walls she will
inscribe her own terms of worship, upon every pillar and column,
glyphs resembling earth and ocean.
crumbling empires' edicts; its walls will hold with blood and spittle,
brackish water and sun-dried grasses. within these walls she will
inscribe her own terms of worship, upon every pillar and column,
glyphs resembling earth and ocean.
Read
July 11, 2007Reviewed for Issue One of make/shift magazine. See make/shift magazine at
http://www.makeshiftmag.com to order a copy.
http://www.makeshiftmag.com to order a copy.
October 4, 2008
Beautiful language, even though I know I didn't grasp the full meanings of the poems.
August 1, 2011
Read several years ago, but still a vivid experience. Count me a fan.
June 28, 2013
Multi-lingual and very fascinating collection of poetry.
February 23, 2011
I enjoyed the poems that weren't about "the white man and his war and ignorant ways."
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews