Jose Araguz
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work_excerpt:
(Don’t Look Now I Might Be Mexican by José Angel Araguz)
That was the title of the book in my dream. I was on the cover, black hair slicked back into grooves, like a record with sunlight needling off. The Mexican flag lay across my chest in a slant, slung over my shoulder like I had won a contest. I had on a blue blazer, khaki slacks, and yellow shoes. I hear the Colombian girl I work with say: You look dressed to ask for a loan. Ready to get that taco truck? No, I am here to tell people about eighteen-wheelers, families as cargo, caught, stunned to have to go back. ¿Que te crees? I want to tell about La Llorona by the side of a river so distraught from losing her child she became a myth. Why the banana shoes then? Not banana: my feet are the color between stop and go. Is that why you’re not smiling? I look back at the photo, see my head hanging over the green, white, and red. Is it shame or defeat that radiates like sunlight at my feet? I could be La Malinche. I could be my father with a son he threw into the ocean. I could be my mother with a son of postcards and phone calls. Did I say it right or are those shoes made of straw, am I to be heretic in this crusade of borders and kin? Your ghosts are women crying over dead children? Isn’t that everyone? I tell her there is no river deep enough to slake the thirst of a land too dry for neighbors. She laughs. It’s raining, it’s always raining. When rain hits a river, all it does is disappear.
Prizes Won:
2015 RHINO Poetry's Editor's Prize: "Joe"
Private E-mail:
thefridayinfluence@gmail.com
Texas
How do you want to identify yourself?:
Latino/Latina
Born in (Country):
United States
Born in (City):
Corpus Christi
Raised in (Country):
United States
Raised in (City):
Corpus Christi
Raised in (State):
Texas
First Name:
Jose
Photo of the Author:
author_pic_2018.jpg
Last Name:
Araguz
Yes
Are you interested in giving readings?:
Yes
Are you willing to travel to give readings?:
Yes
Listed as:
Poet
Application Accepted:
Application Accepted
E-mail:
Website:
link 0:
link 0, location and date:
Right Hand Pointing
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link 1, location and date:
Essay Press
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link 2, location and date:
Speaking of Marvels
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link 3, location and date:
Tahoma LIterary Review
link 4, location and date:
Compose Journal
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