Friday, April 18, 2014

Poem of the Week: Pablo Miguel Martínez






















azul / lejos


the math of dance
the math of breath
counting 4 / 4
with / on us / you
heartbeat’s meter
Lully’s baton
the up the down


peninsular thought
etched by the briny vastness
no easy sailing ’round it
I pray for         strong gusts
                        full masts
Voyages in English
the textbook’s name
part France   part isle
neither mine
I stand in the crow’s nest
searching for the far
blue of language
my anguished cartography


our pleas to Heaven
a newborn gazelle wobbling
swiftness soon enough


 —Pablo Miguel Martínez

Used by permission.


Pablo Miguel Martínez's collection of poems, Brazos, Carry Me (Kórima Press), received the 2013 PEN Southwest Book Award for Poetry. Martínez's work has appeared in journals, newspapers, and anthologies, including Americas Review, Best Gay Poetry 2008, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, El Paso Times, Gay and Lesbian Review, North American Review, San Antonio Express-News, and This Assignment Is So Gay. Martínez has been a recipient of the Robert L.B. Tobin Award for Artistic Excellence, the Oscar Wilde Award, and the Chicano/Latino Literary Prize. His literary work has received support from the Alfredo Cisneros Del Moral Foundation and the Artist Foundation of San Antonio. Martínez is a Co-Founder of CantoMundo, a national retreat-workshop for Latina/o poets. He teaches English at the University of Louisville.

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