Thank you so much for that introduction, Gabriel.
I appreciate it.
One of the things that I'm always
gifted with when I have these opportunities to read
is to also see how others are reading me, and it's beautiful.
Before I begin, I want to thank Tyler, Diana, Sarah, Sarah,
Julie, Leela, Paola, and everyone else at the Poetry
Center for being so welcoming in the summer when school
isn't even happening yet.
That means a lot to Mai Der and myself.
We got here and we didn't expect much,
but we appreciate everything that you've given to us.
That wasn't supposed to be funny,
it was supposed to be genuine.
Also I see some of my students from my workshop last week,
it's good to see your faces.
Thank you for coming.
And to those out there in the virtual world, hello.
I'm going to read tonight nervously.
Reading here at the Poetry Center
is very meaningful for me.
I have ancestors, my grandmother,
who actually passed away in 1999,
the anniversary of her death was while I was here in residency.
She was originally from Arizona, much of my family
was in Arizona, and then the border crossed them.
And that's some ways, many ways, where
are these poems birthed from.
So I'm going to read some poems from the book,
and then I'm going to read some new work,
and then I'm going to read a translation.