Week of March 3rd: Poetry of Miguel Piñero

For Monday, March 3rd, we finally move on to Miguel Piñero and read poetry selections from Outlaw: The Collected Works. Start with the “Introduction to the Poetry of Miguel Piñero” at the beginning of the book. Then read “La Bodega Sold Dreams”, “A Lower East Side Poem”, “The Book of Genesis According to San Miguelito”, “This is Not the Place Where I Was Born”, “Black Woman With the Blond Wig On”, and “Kill, Kill, Kill”. (Up to page 17.) It’s not a lot of reading, however, you must read the poems slowly and carefully and choose 2 of them to read more than once. Take notes on key points that you think are significant, funny, interesting, or do a nice job of telling the story of the city.

Questions to think about as you read:

Based on Piñero’s biographical context, how do his stories match the life he’s living?

How does Piñero’s work differ from Pietri’s in form or content?

What language does he use and what effect does that have on his poetry?

What audiences do you think Piñero is writing for?

How do the characters in Piñero’s descriptions of “Loisaida” (Lower East Side) differ from Pietri’s characters in El Barrio?

For Wednesday, March 5th, read the poems “Running Scared”, “Seeking the Cause”, “New York City Hard Times Blues”, “Bastard Streets”, and “The Lower East Side is Taking” from Outlaw. Also read “Introduction to the Drama of Miguel Piñero in Outlaw. Again, it’s not a lot of reading, but you need to read the poems slowly and carefully.

Watch Piñero read “Seeking the Cause”

Note: La Ciudad/ The City and the full video of Dutchman will be up on the “Video” page. Same password as the “Readings” page.