Bird Eating Bird_ Poems - Kristin Naca [0]
Poems
Kristin Naca
In memory of beloved teacher and mentor, Carl Mills
Contents
Acknowledgments
Speaking English Is Like
Todavía no
Not Yet
“Gavilán o Paloma”
Uses for Spanish in Pittsburgh
Ode to Glass
Baptism
One Foot
Grocery Shopping with My Girlfriend Who Is Not Asian
Language Poetry / Grandma’s English
Tres Mujeres
Las Meninas / The Maids of Honor
Becoming
Falling, Calle Orizaba
What I Don’t Tell My Children About the Philippines
Glove
Revenant Gladness
Corazón como un reloj
Heart Like a Clock
Rear Window
House
Manejar, I-80 Nebraska
Driving, I-80 Nebraska
Witness
The Adoration at El Montan Motor Lodge
While Watching Dallas, My Filipina Auntie Grooms Me for Work at the Massage Parlor
Seguir
Seguir: To Follow, Keep On, Continue
In the Time of the Caterpillars
Hablar español sigue así
Speaking Spanish Is Like
In Mexico City
Catching Cardinals
Notes
About the Author
Credits
Copyright
About the Publisher
The National Poetry Series was established in 1978 to ensure the publication of five poetry books annually through five participating publishers. Publication is funded by the Lannan Foundation; Stephen Graham; Joyce & Seward Johnson Foundation; Glenn and Renee Schaeffer, Juliet Lea Hillman Simonds Foundation; and Charles B. Wright III.
2008 Open Competition Winners
Anna Journey of Houston, Texas, If Birds Gather Your Hair for Nesting
Chosen by Thomas Lux, to be published by University of Georgia Press
Douglas Kearney of Van Nuys, California, The Black Automaton
Chosen by Catherine Wagner, to be published by Fence Books
Adrian Matejka of Edwardsville, Illinois, Mixology
Chosen by Kevin Young, to be published by Penguin Books
Kristin Naca of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Bird Eating Bird
Chosen by Yusef Komunyakaa for the National Poetry Series MTVU Prize, to be published by Harper Perennial
Sarah O’Brien of Brookfield, Ohio, catch light
Chosen by David Shapiro, to be published by Coffee House Press
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The generosity of so many enabled me to complete this collection. I owe the greatest debt to my family: Christian and Lisa, Michael, Rosalin, Puring, Ralph and Mary. And my family: Julianne McAdoo, Nikki Ono, Bill and Alejandro Sanchez, Roger Solis, Arturo Madrid and Antonia Castañeda, Omar Rodríguez and Verónica Prida, my Elena, Jim Clawson, Vicente Lozano, Carla Trujillo and Leslie Larson, Anel Flores, Chris Cuomo and Karen Schlanger, Erin Flanagan, Maxine Leckie, Derek Walker, Chris Byrne, Leah and Macauley Devun, Stacey Berry and Andre Jordan, Barbara Banfield, Kate Nelson, Padrino, Madrina, and the Macondistas.
Thanks to many professors and writing teachers who responded to my work with generosity. Special thanks goes to my committee members at University of Pittsburgh and University of Nebraska. For their wisdom and unflinching belief, thank you, Sandra Cisneros and Hilda Raz.
To my friends who wore down their fingernails against my drafts: Dina Rhoden, Nancy Krygowski, Heather Green, Mathias Svalina, Jehanne Dubrow, Lois Williams, Jan Beatty, Ellen Placey Wadey, Jeff Oaks, Chingbee Cruz, Renato Rosaldo, Diana Delgado, Marcia Ochoa, Nick Carbó, Eileen Tabios, Hadara Bar-Nadav, and Chuck Rybak. For all their timely advice: John Marshall and Christine Deavel of Open Books. Thank you, Joy, for your horses.
Special thanks to María L. Lorenzo, at University of Nebraska, whose generous feedback and encouragement made my writing poems in Spanish possible. Thanks to Hedgebrook, and UN-L, for providing fellowships and time to write. Thanks to my colleagues at Macalester College. Thanks to painter Heather Hagle for her friendship and vision. And thanks to the National Poetry Series for the support of my work, Michael Signorelli at Harper Perennial for his enthusiasm, Yusef Komunyakaa, and everyone at MTV for giving me “My Shot with Yusef Komunyakaa.”
These poems originally appeared in the following venues:
5AM: “While Watching Dallas, My Auntie Grooms Me for Work at the Massage Parlor”
THE ASIAN