Chants

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Hispanic American poetry
Review: Pat Mora is an excellent poet - no poems in this collection fail - a rare achievement. She writes with a clear self-understanding as belonging to two cultures - American and Hispanic. Many of her poems are of a "foreign" culture as they reflect Mexican culture - magicians, spells, and appropriate female behavior. However, her poems are such gems this "foreignness" is never a barrier - rather the reader is privileged to share her perspective. My personal favorite (at the moment and subject to instant change) is "1910" with the repeating image of black shawl, black gloves as she moves from respect in Mexico to discrimination in El Paso. But other poems e.g. "Love Ritual" with a wonderful opening "In Mexico the dead are lured / back for a day with marigolds and / candles ..." beg to be mentioned as well.