Why I Am Like Tequila
​Lupe Mendez

In the poetry collection "Why I am like Tequila", Lupe Mendez illuminates the Texas Chicanx experience both past and present, while also laying bare the joys and pitfalls of being a teacher, caretaker, and father to be. At a time when the personal -Latinx identity- is inherently political, these poems address wider themes of prejudice and love without losing grasp of the finer details of daily life.

Most impressively, Mendez adroitly shifts among narrative, dramatic, and lyrical poems within the collection, loosely dividing the collection into four themes: Raíces, Mezontle, Pencas and Maguey. The first section is about a young Latinx man growing up in South Texas with his mother trying to scrape by, and also his time in Galveston where the scars of segregation in decades past still can be felt.

All the poems are free verse, and often use line breaks and white space to great effect, such as "Advice on my first night in the kitchen at the garden restaurant," a narrative about a young man learning the ropes in his first day at a low-skilled job when something goes horribly wrong.

Mendez's life as a husband, teacher and mentor plays a large role in the second half of the collection, and many lyrical and dramatic poems revolve around an unexpected, tragic loss of life. "Requiem for my mijit@" is a father's lament for a baby lost to miscarriage. There are also two poems about the Ayotzinapa killing and coverup in Mexico, styled as dialogues, which are especially gripping. 

A piercing revelation of the multiple facets of Latinx life in 20th and 21st century Texas.

Lupe Mendez has received fellowships from CantoMundo, Macondo and the Crescendo Literary/Poetry Foundation’s Emerging Poet Incubator. Mendez currently serves as the Literary Outreach Coordinator for Poets & Writers Inc. for Houston.

Why I Am Like Tequila is a publication by Aquarius Press. Click here to purchase.
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Reviewed by
Elliott Turner​
​2/3/2020

Elliott Turner's fiction has appeared in Apogee Journal, Transect Mag, Vol. 1: Brooklyn, Azahares, Barren Magazine, & countless others. His debut novel, The Night of the Virgin, was an Int'l Latino Book Award finalist. He is a contributing editor at Latino Book Review and lives in Texas.

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