The forest Book

I have a deep affection for Jimmy Santiago Baca, based on his sense of the West, his fierce commitment to remembering the world he came from (and in which he continues to live, albeit from a difference location), his sense of humor. Winter Poems Along the Rio Grande adds a deeper spiritual sensibility, one that reminds me of Joy Harjo and Denise Levertov. There were times as I read when I wondered whether the moments of prayer and wisdom would read cliche, a bit abstract, to someone who wasn't familiar with JSB. Decided I wasn't going to let it bother me and simply gave myself to the flow. It wasn't hard because there's plenty of the specific blues detail familiar from Martin and Meditations on the Valley and Black Mesa poems. Here, that focuses more on JSB's struggles to make his connection with his lovers last, something that doesn't come easy. As he tracks the ebbs and flows, moments of joy and despair, he thinks back on his past, knows that the question is deeper than "why does this keep happening to me." The best poems are deep in the blues--number 14 (the poems are numbered, not titled) is one of his very best. He listens to corrodes, Dylan, jazz....and the music infuses his lines. Through it all, the Rio Grande, and the running paths beside them, presides--the spirit's presence in the southwest. Probably not JSB's best volume, but definitely worth the time.