Regalos
Elisa A. Garza
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Elisa A. Garza writes in her poem “Ars Poetica” from Regalos that “A poem congeals / the was, is, could be, yet reveals / all that lies beyond and between” (83.11-13). Garza, a Chicana from South Texas, explores in her most recent book of poetry, Regalos, a finalist for the National Poetry Series, her vision for poetry to transcend time and space, to be a catalyst for stories and change. Regalos is a multi/transgenerational collection that bridges at times conflicting identities, borders, languages, genders, nationalities (the list goes on and on), into one work that is united in its obvious love for the human experience.
Garza’s Regalos is divided into five sections and woven throughout each section are poems/cuentos pertaining to the Latina experience within a multigenerational Mexican American family. Her work echoes the writings of key Chicana writers before her, such as Gloria Anzaldúa, as she too is writing from the perspective of a Chicana tejana, and like Anzaldúa, one of the dominant narratives present throughout the work is the roles gender plays in a Latinx household. Garza’s poems are at once critiquing the machista, heteronormative demands placed upon Latina women (in Garza’s case, emphasizing her Chicananidad), while at the same time reflecting upon the lived realities of many Latina women who are forced to acquiesce to those heteronormative, patriarchal standards, because as she writes in her poem, “Respect,” the Latina has been conditioned to not question their place as it is: “Not the way things are done. / Not proper. She knows. She knows this” (24.1-2). This refrain of a Latina’s knowledge is repeated throughout the poem and echoes of it are found across the work, shedding light on the hidden heartbreaks and small moments of resistance that make Latina women so resilient. And yet the work also acknowledges their alternatives, for example, the power in finding a feminist voice, as Garza writes in “Soy chicana, or Feminism for the Twenty First Century,” “Soy chicana, / a feminine powerful / romantic… Soy chicana / and I forge myself / woman–mujer” (14.1-3, 5-7), in this poem and others like “Rap Song,” “Una mujer dice,” and “Valentine’s Day,” cycles of gendered violence and submission are broken as the bonds of an unhappy marriage are dissolved and the Latina voice finds solace in her singleness, providing the reader with the hope that “Alone is not the same as lonely” (75.32). |
While many of Garza’s poems speak to the Latina experience, it is not the sole strength of her work. Regalos is especially timely given the current political climate and the increasing anti-immigrant rhetoric. It is another strength of Garza’s poetry, that in a work of deeply personal narratives, she succeeds in blending the personal with the political. Given the continued attacks against Latinx immigrants and the implementation of English as the “official” language of the US, Garza’s poems open up a space for Latinx culture to be respected and its languages to be cherished. Many of Garza’s poems flow between English and Spanish, with no translations in between given that “Language has no borders, no geography. / It dances where it wishes, map or no” (47.13-14). Likewise, her poetry speaks to the challenges of migrant workers, emphasizing their tireless and oftentimes back-breaking labor, the pain of which is echoed across generations.
Ultimately, Elisa A. Garza’s Regalos is a bittersweet symphony of poems that are testament to the Latinx experience in the US. She does not shy away from shedding light on our own failings as a community, while also praising the strength inherent within the Latino family. Her work is at once deeply personal yet speaks to the universality of poetry to serve as a “communion / that continually nourishes” (95.17-18).
Ultimately, Elisa A. Garza’s Regalos is a bittersweet symphony of poems that are testament to the Latinx experience in the US. She does not shy away from shedding light on our own failings as a community, while also praising the strength inherent within the Latino family. Her work is at once deeply personal yet speaks to the universality of poetry to serve as a “communion / that continually nourishes” (95.17-18).
Elisa A. Garza is a poet, editor, and writing teacher in Houston with family roots in South Texas. Regalos was a finalist for the National Poetry Series. Elisa’s chapbooks include Between the Light / entre la claridad and Written in the Body (both from Mouthfeel Press).
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