[Music intro]
LYNNE THOMPSON: Hello! My name is Lynne Thompson, Poet Laureate for the City of Los Angeles and I’m so happy to welcome listeners to this installment of Poems on Air, a podcast supported by the Los Angeles Public Library. Every week, I’ll present the work of poets I admire, poets who you should know, and poets who have made a substantial and inimitable contribution to the art and craft of poetry.
LYNNE THOMPSON: Although Francisco X. Alarcón’s formative years were spent with his family in Guadalajara, Mexico, he was born in Wilmington, California, and returned to the state when he was about 18 years old. His experiences of the cultures of both Mexico and the United States—where he worked in restaurants and as a migrant farmworker—shaped the writing he would eventually produce. His concern for and participation in political causes dominated his poetry while he also wrote for children. He died of cancer in 2016.
LYNNE THOMPSON: Today’s poem is “Words are Birds” included in Alarcón’s children’s book Laughing Tomatoes and Other Spring Poems.
Words are Birds
words
are birds
that arrive
with books
and spring
they
love
clouds
the wind
and trees
some words
are messengers
that come
from far away
from distant lands
for them
there are
no borders
only stars
moon and sun
some words
are familiar
like canaries
others are exotic
like the quetzal bird
some can stand
the cold
others migrate
with the sun
to the south
some words
die
caged—
they're difficult
to translate
and others
build nests
have chicks
warm them
feed them
teach them
how to fly
and one day
they go away
in flocks
the letters
on this page
are the prints
they leave
by the sea
LYNNE THOMPSON: The Los Angeles Poet Laureate was created as a joint program between the City’s Department of Cultural Affairs and the Los Angeles Public Library and this podcast will be available on the Library’s website. In the future, episodes will be available on iTunes, Google, and Spotify. Thanks for listening!
[Music outro]
- Back to Poems on Air: Episode 4
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