Lidia Torres is a Puerto Rican poet. She was born in New York City, and graduated from Hunter College as well as New York University. Her poem, A Weakness for Boleros (also the name of her poetry collection) was selected by the Poetry Society of America for its program called Poetry in Motion. Torres received a poetry fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts. She is still living in New York City and is working on a translation project.
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| Image from the Poetry Foundation |
An American audience can especially appreciate poems written by Lidia Torres because they act effectively as both a window into Latino culture and a mirror in the lives of individuals. Torres’ poetic style is unique and fresh. Her voice coaxes emotion out of the reader and helps them see the world in a new way.
Many different life themes and wonderings shine through in Torres’ poetry. Among them are family, music, death, the body, spirituality, fruits, longings, sexuality and passion. These themes are universal, yet Torres draws from her own life, her own latina experience, making her poetry act as a window into an unfamiliar culture.
Through her writing, an American audience learns about the deep connection of family and taking care of one’s parents when they’re old. In Latin American it is known by everyone that you are responsible for you’re children when they’re young – just as your parents cared for you – and are allowed the honor and privilege of taking care of your parents when they are old – as you expect your children to care for you as you age.
The importance of family and the deep connection that families in Latin America share is apparent in many of her poems, including Three Keys, Visiting the Dead, and Listening For Her. In Listening For Her, Torres describes how she cares for her mother as she struggles with a brain disease. I clean my mother’s body abandoned long ago by its brain cells. She allows me to move her limbs, unfold her skin, yielding like an infant…I listen and listen, gazing into the mirror with her. In Three Keys she writes about losing three brothers, and the power of ghosts and memories. These keys cannot lock the bare rooms with quiet ghosts of three brothers. The last brother answers. Then we are all in the same dream, alive and dead.
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One example of her integration of music into her work is from Three Keys: My brother answers, tapping the congo skin…Another brother taps the Clave’s beat. The last brother answers by barely scraping a Guiro. From a Weakness for Boleros: The Bolero was composed for you and me. That is the first line of that poem. It’s as if she’s saying “the dance of life was composed for you and me.” Our dance. Our life.
The deep connection of family, the rhythms and beats of life, mothers and brothers, dreams and ghosts; Torres uses her unique style and voice to tell of Latin American culture, but many of her themes are universal. An American audience, an audience that is not Latino, can best appreciate Torres’ poetry because it acts both as a window into Latin American culture as well as a mirror that reflects universal life themes.
I thought it was very interesting about how you mentioned the innate expectations of family in the Latino culture. Parents caring for both their children and their own aging parents is an aspect of family life that many Americans don't see as a part of our culture. Instead, there are many kids raised by one parent and many grandparents who die in nursing homes.
ReplyDeleteTorres' association with music as an aspect of Latino culture is also very fun to read about. Music is such an important part of many cultures, and associating musical beats with the rhythm of life can help many different people connect, as the language of music is universal.
I like how the association with music is a reoccurring theme throughout the poetry. Music is an important part of many cultures, as Steph mentioned. It is something that people can use to express themselves. If you think about it, almost every group has some time of music they use. Different faith groups use different styles of music to worship their Divine Being. Different culture groups use music to express themselves. Different rituals have different music to give the mood for the ritual. Music is used in a variety of situations and so the language of music is something that almost everyone can connect to.
ReplyDeleteThe connection of the family is something that most Latino cultures value and that seems to fade when talking about American culture. It isn't that American culture seems to disrespect their parents or elders but the Latino culture seems to place more importance on it in my experience.
I appreciate the windows and mirrors framework you use in exploring her poetry. Just as it was at the beginning of the year, it is helpful in highlighting the parallels and differences between our own experience and that which we are reading about. For me, I see the latin experience of taking care of family as both a window and a mirror. As a window, our culture is simply not one to take on the burden of caring for the elderly. They slow us down, so we put them in nursing homes. But as a mirror, I see the care my parents have both shown their parents as they grow old. Both my mothers and my fathers’ parents are now in Goshen, and not a week goes by without one form of care or another, be it help with their house, or simply sharing a meal together.
ReplyDeleteI am intrigued by this “three keys” poem, and the light you shed on it; I think I’m going to go look it up!
Hello, I would like to get in contact with Lidia Torres, does anyone know her email or how to do so? It is for an opportunity to collaborate with The Puerto Rican Centro at Hunter College. Thank you. (My email: ai.nolasco@gmail.com)
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