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BILL MOYERS JOURNAL

July 20, 2007

"We have to deal with this paradox that there are 40 million Latinos in this country and, yet, we're invisible."

Whether as an award-winning poet or as a tenant lawyer for Boston's Latino community, Martín Espada's aim has remained the same: "to speak on behalf of those without an opportunity to be heard."

"Not that they couldn't speak for themselves given the chance," he explains in his interview with Bill Moyers. "They just don't get the chance."
Watch the Video

Selected Poems by Martín Espada
July 20, 2007

The following poems by Martin Espada have been reprinted with the poet's permission.

THE REPUBLIC OF POETRY
For Chile

In the republic of poetry,
a train full of poets
rolls south in the rain
as plum trees rock
and horses kick the air,
and village bands
parade down the aisle
with trumpets, with bowler hats,
followed by the president
of the republic,
shaking every hand.

In the republic of poetry,
monks print verses about the night
on boxes of monastery chocolate,
kitchens in restaurants
use odes for recipes
from eel to artichoke,
and poets eat for free.

In the republic of poetry,
poets read to the baboons
at the zoo, and all the primates,
poets and baboons alike, scream for joy.

In the republic of poetry,
poets rent a helicopter
to bombard the national palace
with poems on bookmarks,
and everyone in the courtyard
rushes to grab a poem
fluttering from the sky,
blinded by weeping.

In the republic of poetry,
the guard at the airport
will not allow you to leave the country
until you declaim a poem for her
and she says Ah! Beautiful.

From THE REPUBLIC OF POETRY.

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