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Morton Marcus: Good evening, everybody. This is Mort Marcus and tonight we have a very, very interesting show, one that I've been looking forward to for quite some time, we are going to be talking with the poets who are working with poets and other

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writers who are working with El Andar, a Spanish Language and English language newspaper out of Watsonville, which really, I think is the first publication which has served the South County and to tell us about that is Gaspar Rivera. Gaspar, why

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don't you tell us a little bit about El Andar and then into what's going to happen tonight. Gaspar Rivera: All right. First of all, I want to thank Morton Marcus for inviting us here at KUSP and we are the people from

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El Andar. And long time ago, when the idea of El Andar started, we thought, first of all, that there was a gap in, you know, there was a need for a bilingual publication here in, not only in Watsonville, but in the Santa Cruz County because

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the Latino community here is so large, and even though as big as it is, they have an open forum where they could express their- how they feel, who they were, and what was their position on certain issues. So we're trying to fulfill this gap with El

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Andar. We have now five issues out and we're a monthly bilingual publication. And tonight, we're gonna read some of the poetry that have appeared in El Andar because a publication is not only political but also about

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culture, about art. Morton Marcus: Isn't every centerfold of the newspaper is dedicated to poetry? Gaspar Rivera: Yeah, every month we have the center pages

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dedicated to poetry only except for the last issue it was about the earthquake. Morton Marcus: And in fact if El Andar sounds familiar, you've probably seen the newspaper around, and these people were

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supposed to be our guests on that very, very fateful night or fateful night of October 17th. So this is a rescheduled show and something that Gaspar and Jorge Chino, one of the editors of the newspaper and I have been trying to get together. Gaspar,

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why don't you introduce some of the people and you tell us something about them. These are the people who are here tonight we have, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 people from El Andar, and that includes Gaspar Rivera.

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Gaspar Rivera: Okay, first of all, I'd like to introduce Cecile Mills. She has a desktop publishing and computer training business in La Manzana in downtown Watsonville and she gives technical support to El Andar. Also, we have Margalete

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Ezekiel, she volunteers with El Andar. Also, we have Jorge Chino, who's the editor of the paper, and we have Roe Loughlin(?) and she's an astrologer for El Andar, she writes the astrology column.

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Morton Marcus: And you can introduce yourself, yes. Enrique Mondragon: Hi, my name is Enrique Mondragon and I volunteer for El Andar. Morton Marcus: That is his name was Enrique Mondragon and he

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volunteers for El Andar and Enrique, if you can speak right into that thing because it's it's uni-directional. That means it's got one direction and you got to speak right into it or it doesn't pick up okay. These will be our guests tonight and who

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and what shall we start off with? Gaspar Rivera: First of all, I like to to read a poem that I really think that represents the meaning of El Andar for all of us, it's a poem by Cesar Vallejo and is called "Masa" which means

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matters. And I'm gonna read a paragraph in Spanish and then translate it into English Cesar Vallejo: MASA Al fin de la batalla, y muerto el combatiente, vino hacia él un

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hombre y le dijo: «¡No mueras, te amo tanto!» Pero el cadáver ¡ay! siguió muriendo. At the end of the battle, and the soldier dead, there came to him a man, he said, "Do not die. I love you so!" But the dead

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body kept on dying Se le acercaron dos y repitiéronle: «¡No nos dejes! ¡Valor! ¡Vuelve a la vida!» Pero el cadáver ¡ay! siguió muriendo. Two approached him and repeated, "Do not leave us, courage, come

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back to life!" But the dead body kept on dying Acudieron a él veinte, cien, mil, quinientos mil, clamando «¡Tanto amor y no poder nada contra la muerte!» Pero el cadáver ¡ay! siguió muriendo.

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There came to him twenty, a hundred, a thousand, five hundred thousand, clamoring, "So much love, and no power at all against death!" But the dead body kept on dying Le rodearon millones de individuos, con un ruego común:

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«¡Quédate hermano!» Pero el cadáver ¡ay! siguió muriendo. Millions of individuals surrounded him with a common plea, "Stay with us, brother!" But the dead body kept on dying. Entonces todos los hombres de la tierra le rodearon; les vio el

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cadáver triste, emocionado; incorporóse lentamente, abrazó al primer hombre; echóse a andar... Then all the men of the earth gathered around him. The sad dead man saw them. Very removed he rose up slowly, embraced the

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first man, and began to walk... Morton Marcus: Okay, now, you said that that is sort of the poem you wanted to start with because that represents El Andar. And I take it El Andar is the walker?

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Gaspar Rivera: Yes, it is the walker, it is the hope of- the hope of more just society community. And that's what we are, hope. Morton Marcus: Okay, very, very good. One of my favorite poems

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by Vallejo from "Spain in the Heart." And if you are impressed by that poem out there, are you going to be reading any more Vallejo poems tonight? Not planning? Then let me tell you out there there is a wonderful translation of all the later

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poems by César Vallejo by Clayton Eshleman still available which is called "Poemas Humanos" by César Vallejo. And I would suggest that you read it. In fact, it's coming time Joe and I should do a whole Vallejo program. And maybe some of these

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people, especially Gaspar reads Spanish so beautifully, will come back and read some Vallejo poems for us. Yes, what will we do now? Gaspar? Gaspar Rivera: We're going to have an update of what's

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happening in Watsonville. Morton Marcus: Great, this is what I'm one of the things that I asked the poet's to do is to tell us what's going on in Watsonville, post earthquake information and the help that we

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can give to the people in in Watsonville. And who will be giving this to us, Gaspar? Gaspar Rivera: Cecile Mills. Morton Marcus: Okay.

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Cecile Mills: Hi, thank you Mort. One thing I'd like to say is that as a resident of Watsonville, I have been amazed and impressed with the outpouring of compassion from the people in Santa Cruz County and elsewhere. But I was

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particularly disturbed last week to be told that the Red Cross had announced that they didn't need anything but money in Watsonville because that's far from the truth and I think- I don't know what- We need money too. But we also need volunteers

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to come down and assist people in cleaning their- their wreckage of their houses. We need bilingual translators. We need food constantly. We need food. Many, many hundreds of people are without cooking facilities. We need people to

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bring certain types of clothing. Watsonville has plenty of used clothing in it but there are certain types, such as children's underwear that could be very, very useful. There are two places that you can contact. One of them is the Migrant

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Media Project on 18 Westlake Avenue. And Salud Para La Gente on East Beach and Carr Streets. And anyone who is interested in learning a little bit more about Watsonville, I can't think of a better way to do it. You you

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will really be helping, and it's a grand way to find out about South County. Morton Marcus: Do you happen to have telephone numbers for the Migrant Media Project and Salud Para La Gente?

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Cecile Mills: I don't. Morton Marcus: No. Would this be found by calling information, do you know? Cecile Mills: Yes, they're both in the phone book.

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Morton Marcus: Okay, and could you give us the addresses once more, first for Migrant Media Project? Cecile Mills: Migrant Media Project is 18 Westlake Avenue, just past the corner of Main Street, and the phone number

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actually, found it, is 724-2997. Morton Marcus: Okay. The food. What are we talking about? Canned food? Cecile Mills: Canned food, fresh vegetables. Actually, there's

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distributions that occur. I have a temporary office set up across the street from Migrant Media Project and people will bring down truckloads of things. And somehow the people in the neighborhoods know when this happens and a line forms and the

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food is distributed again. We got a case of bok choy, which was culturally significant. And it was really interesting to see what happens when when food comes in. It gets bagged and distributed very, very quickly. So it doesn't even matter if

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it's perishable. If you've got ice cream, I know they could find people who would be there instantly to eat it Morton Marcus: Ice cream. Now, what about- you see a lot of people who are listening probably are going to be, you

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know, private individuals, and they won't be able to bring obviously truckloads of things down. They should still bring things, I take it? Cecile Mills: Yeah.

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Morton Marcus: Things you mentioned, like food... Cecile Mills: Many individuals are bringing truckloads of things. I went with a group of people to the East Bay and brought down materials and it was a station wagon load, but

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the generosity of people is amazing. You don't have to bring a truckload of course, if you go to the grocery store and you're shopping for yourself and your family, you might fill up one more bag of groceries and just bring that by.

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Morton Marcus: To the Migrant Media Project, or Salud Para La Gente. The address for Salud Para La Gente, again? Cecile Mills: Salud Para La Gente is at the corner of East Beach and Carr Streets. And I think we have a phone number:

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761-0998. Morton Marcus: Okay. Again, let me announce that these are- you people who have gone to get a pencil, or why don't you get a pencil right now and I will announce these again at the end,

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the 9:30 break, but right now, the Migrant Media Project is 724-2997. That's the Migrant Media Project 724-2997 and Salud Para La Gente is 761-0998. Okay. And Jorge Chino, the editor of the newspaper and one of the finest prose writers I have seen

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in years, wants to say something. Jorge Chino: Oh, I just wanted to remind that during the earthquake what we saw in Watsonville happening is that how divided our society is because before we we saw

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ourselves, at least the Hispanic community, the Latino community, not that isolated from the rest of the society, from the race, though, from the community as a whole. But after- during the earthquake, and after the earthquake we saw that we are

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really two different communities. And we are sorry that this is happening. And because the institutions such as the City of Watsonville, or FEMA, the federal agency didn't really have all what our community needed, and- and still

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needs. And we don't think that this should be happening now because we really want to integrate our Latino community to the rest, we don't wanna stay apart of it. We want to be part of the rest of the community. And I think this was a chance to

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see how important a medium like El Andar is for the Latino community and the rest of the community as well and I think that we are working towards having a more integrated community. So I believe that the goals of El Andar such as

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keeping our culture, keeping our language are important. And also, we believe that we shouldn't patronize any either Spanish or English. So that's why El Andar is bilingual. Because a bilingual community is more beautiful. And bilingual

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community means that we can go into different directions. And we can see different things from different point of views, and at the same time to keep being together too. Well, I like to appreciate all the help that was been given to Watsonville. And I

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think there is a lot of- a lot of a good sense, a lot of will in that, but sometimes we, we don't see clear what the real problems are. And from now on, I guess after the earthquake, we see more, we see more clearly that- what our needs are. And

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one of our first needs is to get closer and to understand that we're in this world together. And after that we we can solve some of the problems that are going on now. Morton Marcus: Yes, if I may comment, there certainly has

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been a tremendous interest in downtown Santa Cruz, which certainly I share. And yet, the real human cry from Watsonville, they just- both these things don't seem to meet or mesh in any way. And one of the reasons that I wanted you on so quickly

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after the earthquake was so that, you know, we could talk about these very things. If some of the people do not know what he's talking about. The director of FEMA for the area came down to Watsonville and did not bring a Spanish interpreter with him.

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That was one thing that happened. So there was no way to communicate really what was going on with the Watsonville group, is that correct? Yes. What were some of the other things that happened?

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Jorge Chino: Well, I think that in some of the laborer camps in Watsonville, which happened to be where a lot of farmworkers live, they'd never receive any help until four or five days after the earthquake. And agencies like Salud Para La

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Gente, which is a local health agency or organization, didn't receive all the support that was needed by the Red Cross and by the city officials, and we believe that those problems shouldn't happen in our community. I believe that if the

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federal agencies such as FEMA, which didn't have any, any translators or any Spanish speakers, had to see this in advance of the problems that a community like Watson has. Morton Marcus: Well, I'm sure- have things improved since then?

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I know that, for example, our congressman, Congressman Panetta, was just absolutely infuriated by some of these things and let his fury be known. Have things changed? Have things gotten better down there now? Yeah.

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Cecile Mills: Well, one thing that's happened is that El Andar put out the only bilingual listing of emergency phone numbers for about two weeks. And I just came tonight from a city council meeting where they had a notice up on the wall of City

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Hall that from now on the notices on the buildings about safety were to be bilingual. But you know, how many days is this after the earthquake? So I feel that the response to the needs of the people in the community has been very slow.

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Morton Marcus: Well, people who are interested in these questions, can they call El Andar? Does El Andar have a telephone number that they can reach them at? Everyone's pointing everyone's way [chuckles]

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Cecile Mills: El Andar has temporary offices in Watsonville and they can be reached at 761-2178. Morton Marcus: Okay, that again was 761-2178 for El Andar, to know more about the work they are doing and of course how they

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very, very necessarily plug into the community and are doing what they're doing. I don't want to change this abruptly, but I know that you are also poets and your passion as brothers is- is important for us to hear in your poetry, too, because the

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culture, the inner voice that is coming out of the Hispanic community is finding its language with you. So, let us go on to some poetry. Gaspar, I will let you point to everybody, and what I hope everyone will do is give your name as you come on

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microphone so that the people out there will know who you are and then you can say a few words about what you're doing. Read your poem in English, English/Spanish, Spanish/English, whatever. Gaspar:

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Gaspar Rivera: Well, after all this information, I'd like to to read another poem because it's important also that, for us, poetry is very important too, because it's a way of communicating with everybody, with you, who we are and how we

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feel. This is a poem called: [Unidentified] And I'm gonna read it for you. Black hair, dark skin, color of the land, strong hands, salty

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sweat. The smell of tortillas in the air. Wooden plow, [unidentified], pair of strong oxen, humid land, tierrra, seed of corn, maíz. You know this land. I know this land. You feel it part of you, like what you work in it. You plant corn, you

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planted corn for many years, like [unidentified]. You stretch your back, I think you feel tired. I don't know this land. Your back hurts. I don't know these men working under the sun. Your eyes hurt. I feel miserable.

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your bones are sore. I want to make love to this land to. You're hungry. I want to travel on the clouds. You look at the sunset, [unidentified] I want to feel to see, to speak and to hear like you. You waved and called my name. I ran to hug

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you. We both smile. We share hope. We share the same happiness. We share the same end. Morton Marcus: Very nice, very nice selection of poems, both of them. Very, very nice

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Gaspar Rivera: Now [inaudible] Mondragon is going to read- Morton Marcus: Isn't it Enrique? Gaspar Rivera: Oh, Enrique Mondragon. [Laughter] He's gonna read a poem by Silvio Rodriguez, which is actually a song called

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"Vamos a Andar." Enrique Mondragon: Okay, this poem tells you about a hope, a hope of friendship, friendship between two cultures: VAMOS A ANDAR

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Vamos a andar En verso why vida tintos Levantando el recinto Del pan why la verdad Vamos a andar Matando el egoísmo Para que por lo mismo Reviva la amistad Vamos a andar Hundiendo al poderoso Alzando al perezoso Sumando a los demás Vamos a andar Con

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todas las banderas Trenzadas de manera Que no haya soledad Vamos a andar Para llegar A la vida. Gaspar Rivera: Very beautiful. Now we're going to have Roe(?), and she is the astrologer for El

00:23:17.630 - 00:23:34.850

Andar, she writes the column of the astrology column. And we think that her column is very, very poetic. That's why we publish it. And she's gonna read a couple of horoscopes. Roe Loughlin: Yeah, I'm going to give a sample and everyone else

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will have to read the paper to get theirs. I guess I'll start off with Leo, since there's a lot of Leos here in the room. Okay: This is a very inward time for normally extroverted Leos, a

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time of finding stability in your life. Practice thinking of the earth as a sphere, with each person standing on it, having roots would extend all the way down to the inner core. Our roots would all meet at the same center, the same source, and

00:24:07.970 - 00:24:24.980

we'd realize our true unity as a family on the planet. If you look at the earth as being flat, you're seeing life in a superficial way and missing the connection. So Leo, go inward and find your center, as well as your unity with all of life.

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This is where true stability lies. All solid foundations may crumble, but the globe forever retains its center. Think globally. And I'm also going to read Sagittarius. It's interesting

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because Sagittarius was the last sign I was writing the night before the earthquake. So it- This seems kind of appropriate: This is the last phase of your yearly cycle. A good time to open yourself to the unknown in preparation for what the new

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year will bring that begins on your birthday next month. In the Hasidic tradition, there's a teaching in which it is believed that you are born for a specific event that will occur at some point in your life, but you never know when. So you have to

00:25:17.540 - 00:25:33.650

always be on your toes, so that when the test comes, you will be prepared. There is nothing you can do to a elude any moment but cultivate an openness to the unknown, so that whatever occurs you will be fully present for it. Can you do this this month?

00:25:36.200 - 00:25:47.120

Morton Marcus: Very nicely written Yes. As they said. Where did you get your training in astrology? Is there a training in astrology? Roe Loughlin: Well, I've been studying on my own for 10 years.

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And this is the first time I've ever written a column. But I've done a lot of different things like being involved with groups and working at fais, doing readings, things like that, but it's always been a part of my life.

00:26:05.120 - 00:26:17.120

Morton Marcus: And is your column in English or Spanish? Roe Loughlin: Now it's in Spanish. And that's what's really interesting about it. It's the only astrology column in the county that's written in Spanish.

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Morton Marcus: Have you gotten much response from the Spanish or the Hispanic population? Roe Loughlin: Well, yeah, I've heard- I've heard that, that everyone likes it. Say that makes me feel good.

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Morton Marcus: That's great. That's wonderful. Okay, very good. We're coming up to 9:30. Could we have maybe one more poem and then we're gonna have to take our half hour break, and we'll have a lot more poetry in part two. So-

00:26:41.030 - 00:26:52.220

Gaspar Rivera: Yeah, Manuel Aparicio is mainly responsible for all the art, the good art that appears in El Andar. He is gonna read us some of his poetry. Morton Marcus: Great.

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Manuel Aparicio: Buenas noches. And this is this point is entitled: THE DEER AND THE STAR Silence is broken by rhythm, a sudden movement on the late

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night soul. Beneath the brilliant star I see the eye of wisdom of light. The rising mountain is filled with sound. I hear the earth shaking, the warm song of change. Trembling skies call my name. I feel [unidentified] running miles in

00:27:22.490 - 00:27:37.010

my veins. [Stanza in Spanish] The celestial bodies are watching me. Spirits reflected in the eyes of those animals. The bear is beside me, I feel

00:27:37.010 - 00:27:53.030

strong. The spiders surround me, I feel alone. The eagle is within me, I can fly. But I'm standing on my feet near a constellation with no name. I came to pick the brightest star to find a name. The light embraces my darkening corners.

00:27:53.300 - 00:28:15.230

Within my solitude, there is joy. There is life. I hold hands with my loved ones [Spanish] The circle in the sky is never erased. [Spanish] As the pine is content to meet the sky. Meanwhile, I feel his roots with my bare feet, I belong to a

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southern glimpse. The horizon is rising with white splendor. I describe the silhouette of a deer as I drink from the moon's hanging breasts, the deer runs to catch the star. Morton Marcus: Manuel, would you mind commenting on the fact that

00:28:32.240 - 00:28:45.260

part of the poem is written in Spanish, and part of the poem is written in English. This I know is a very important part of Chicano poetry. Could you tell the listening audience out there why this is so, or just answer for yourself why you do it?

00:28:49.010 - 00:29:10.310

Manuel Aparicio: Well I do it as- or we do it, I've seen it reflected this way, or style of writing, or even talking in the Spanish speaking community, in the Chicano community, in the Latin American community, just by seeing the kids how they

00:29:10.310 - 00:29:28.370

talk, which kind of keeps, you know, how they talk is, I think is really wonderful. Because as Jorge Gina was saying, we have different directions, we have an alternative to speak and to create a new, a new mode of talking, and we can expand our

00:29:28.400 - 00:29:47.840

horizons, we can expand our dimensions, our views about life and people in the society we're living. So we do have that alternative and we really lucky, I did take that alternative in my poetry writing, and I take it in other ways even. I mean, [in

00:29:49.400 - 00:30:05.090

Spanish] you can do it. You can change from one to another. Morton Marcus: Great. That's wonderful. Say, the word dimension is there; it really does add a totally different dimension and sort of like takes off into warp speed, I guess

00:30:05.120 - 00:30:21.110

they say on a certain TV show. Let me announce to you people here, and people who may be listening on the radio and would be interested in this, that the week following March 2 in 1990. Gary Soto will be at Cabrillo College, we're giving a reading

00:30:21.110 - 00:30:37.820

on Monday night and we'll be doing some one-day classes the next day. So keep that in mind if people are listening in Watsonvill, just keep that in mind. It will be the first time Gary has read down here I think maybe ever. We are going to take

00:30:37.820 - 00:30:49.490

a break now. And we will be right back and we will have some announcements for you. And we will continue with the poet's who are putting out the wonderful and very necessary bilingual newspaper from South County in Watsonville called El

00:30:49.490 - 00:35:22.700

Andar, "The one who walks." We are back with the Poetry Show. This is Mort Marcus and tonight we are talking with the poets who work on the South County newspaper, the bilingual newspaper El Andar, and we are

00:35:22.700 - 00:35:35.600

going to go back to them in a second. I would like to thank Stapleton's Grocery for providing a grant to help make this program possible. Stapleton's Grocery specializes in organic produce and unadulterated comestibles in the

00:35:35.600 - 00:35:54.560

Farmers Exchange Building in Santa Cruz. Next week, Chris Funkhouser will join Joe Stroud, talking about his magazine on tape, called "We" the magazine mostly deals with performance poetry and interviews, and the last issue had a long interview

00:35:54.560 - 00:36:12.980

with Alan Ginsberg. So that's next week on Joe's show. Chris Funkhouser, the editor of "We" And tomorrow night poetry and prose at Bookworks in Aptos in the Rancho Del Mar Shopping Center, starting at 7pm. Joseph McNeilly, Patrice Vecchione and

00:36:12.980 - 00:36:25.820

Kirby Wilkins will be reading from their work. Kirby Wilkins is a novelist whose second novel will be out this spring. Joseph McNeilly has published stories and poems. And most people out there know Patrice Vecchione, who takes over for Joe and I

00:36:25.820 - 00:36:41.600

sometimes and is a wonderful poet and teacher. I would like to also announce at this time that there will be a gigantic benefit honoring the bookshops in Santa Cruz, which I hope somehow will get on wheels and move down to Watsonville, and

00:36:41.600 - 00:36:58.580

that at least some of the people here tonight, though they know nothing about this, will be asked to read at that reading. It will be at the Santa Cruz High School auditorium and a donation is being asked so that money can be used to help, if

00:36:58.580 - 00:37:12.170

not the bookshops, which seemed to be turning out pretty well getting all their inventories out, help the employees who have lost weeks and weeks of work. So we will hear more about that. That is going to be co sponsored by Joe Stroud and yours truly.

00:37:12.410 - 00:37:32.600

And the Writers Union, the National Writers Union, local branch. You'll hear more of that in the weeks to come. Right now, and for a very scant 20 minutes I'm afraid, let us go back to the poets from El Andar. And Gaspar is pointing to Margalete.

00:37:33.020 - 00:37:36.890

Yes? Margalete Ezekiel: Yes. Morton Marcus: And what is your last name? Margalete Ezekiel: My name is Margalete Ezekiel.

00:37:37.580 - 00:37:42.950

Morton Marcus: Okay, can you say that again? Margalete Ezekiel: Margalete Ezekiel Morton Marcus: Okay. Margalete. Okay, what are you going to read for us?

00:37:43.020 - 00:37:52.650

Margalete Ezekiel: I'm going to read a poem that I wrote in Spanish, and then I will translate it in English. It doesn't sound that great in English, but- because it was originally written in Spanish.

00:37:52.720 - 00:39:05.900

Morton Marcus: Okay. Margalete Ezekiel: [In Spanish] In translation, there isn't really a good translation for the word

00:39:05.990 - 00:39:23.350

"ilusión" because it doesn't really have the same meaning as illusion. It means more sort of like, hope or dream. But I'm going to leave it the same anyhow: Illusion comes and goes, like the tide. Illusion makes me

00:39:23.350 - 00:39:39.790

dizzy, makes me lose my balance. I stumble, the simple rhythm of walking becomes difficult. And my path is filled with traps, with hungry mouths. I dance exposed along the blade of a knife, the burning humiliation of not being able to stop

00:39:40.300 - 00:39:54.490

dancing alone there without music. Illusion, how did you get to this point? How did you grow so much? How could I let you snatch away the reins of my life. You've heard me from the peak of the tallest mountain to a valley at the bottom of the

00:39:54.490 - 00:40:07.120

sea. But I always go back so that you can do it again. Crazy hope that refuses to die although you give it neither sun nor water. Morton Marcus: Well, it sounds very nice in English to me.

00:40:08.530 - 00:40:16.660

Manuel Aparicio: Nice poem, very, very nice poem. Morton Marcus: We go from here to Cecile Mills: Cecile. Morton Marcus: Okay, so Cecile, what's your last name, Cecile,

00:40:16.660 - 00:40:29.360

again? Cecile Mills: Mills. Before I read a poem, I'd like to remind people out there that El Andar needs subscriptions. Just like KUSP, we're doing

00:40:29.360 - 00:40:49.910

pledge night right now. If you would like to subscribe, you could get a full year subscription for $25 or six issues for $15. And you could send a check or money order payable to El Andar, to post office box 7745 Santa Cruz,

00:40:49.910 - 00:41:06.600

California 95061. Okay, now we've done that. I'd like to read a poem by Elba Rosario Sanchez, who is a professor of Spanish at UCSC. TRANSFORMATIONS

00:41:06.960 - 00:41:29.490

This is the year of trends, formations. Snakes here, and snakes there. Poor middle class, life gets tougher in the good old USA. It's easier to regress to some wonderful past where movies play out white well to do men's obsessions, fantasies.

00:41:29.970 - 00:41:49.710

They exchange bodies and lives with boys transforming their adulthood into adolescence, even childhood innocence, transforming mature men into carefree spoiled and vacuous well to do teen boys, and teen boys into cynical self

00:41:49.710 - 00:42:12.600

important, vacuous men. This is the year of trends, formations, we are enticed to believe in the American Dream. And there are some who believe they've made it. And by themselves, mind you, their pockets lined with Uncle Sam's almighty dollar. They

00:42:12.600 - 00:42:35.670

think the green will somehow lighten skin color. Watch out, gente. They'll try to transform us into a jelly mass of Hispanics. This is the year of trends, formations. When some women chose a political sexual alternative to reject men, and

00:42:35.670 - 00:42:57.210

yet take on the male mystique, transforming themselves into macho types, talking male talk, dressed in men's manners. This is the year of trends, formations of Ollies(?) who become national heroes, of drug and arms traffickers, right wing

00:42:57.210 - 00:43:16.590

military types, murderers and mercenaries, transforming themselves into freedom fighters and Presidente's Contras. Commercial illusions, self delusion and Hollywood movies might cloud the issues, murderers are murderers, brown

00:43:16.590 - 00:43:34.950

is brown, the male mystique oppresses women, children and men. And we will be brutalized as long as we believe and continue to accept these trends, formations. Snakes here and snakes there.

00:43:34.450 - 00:43:54.460

Morton Marcus: There- Was that in English? Cecile Mills: That poem was in English, and I am not fully bilingual, so I am not going to translate it into Spanish. Morton Marcus: So El Andar does publish poems in English, as

00:43:54.460 - 00:44:09.370

well as in Spanish. Is there any criteria? There may be some poets, poets who listen to this program, who may want to send poems to El Andar? Is there a criterium? In other words, you only want poems about the Hispanic experience?

00:44:10.500 - 00:44:24.300

Jorge Chino: No, well, we accept any submissions. [Cut] Manuel Aparicio: -in the supermarkets, and I see them reading El Andar. And they can not read, many of them, a big percentage, English, and I see these people and every time I

00:44:24.300 - 00:44:39.300

see these people, I feel great. And we all do. And I think it's a great way for them to form part- of feel part of the community, a dynamic part of it, because one way or another, we are all part of the productive process. And it's very important

00:44:39.300 - 00:44:55.060

to feel ourselves that important because we are all. Morton Marcus: Very, very well said. We've almost run out of time, I would like to extend an invitation for you people to come back, maybe in around two

00:44:55.060 - 00:45:13.180

months, and do new work, and tell what is happening. Watsonville and what the progress is? Shall we have another poem or two here? Here comes the next host, but we still have around two minutes. So, well-

00:45:14.530 - 00:45:28.240

Margalete Ezekiel: Could I just say one year, which is that, as Jorge said, at least at the beginning much of the money for running the newspaper came from our own pockets. But thanks to the generous support of many local businesses and things like

00:45:28.240 - 00:45:43.660

that, we have had a number of advertisements in the newspaper. And, you know, we would encourage any business who would like to support this publication and also get publicity for their business to the Spanish speaking community, to please contact us

00:45:43.660 - 00:45:54.430

because we would love to represent your business. Understood. Yes. And if you're listening out there, they're talking not only of businesses in Watsonville, but throughout the county. Yes.

00:45:55.530 - 00:46:15.390

Cecile Mills: Also, there's one other avenue that El Andar is is traveling and traveling very well, and that's of political commentary. And we publish things in El Andar that do not occur in the mainstream press. And these articles too are well

00:46:15.390 - 00:46:34.140

received, and we created quite a stir in Watsonville with political revelations by an author who submits regularly Frank Bardacke. So if any of you out there have any political commentary that you'd like to see in either English or

00:46:34.140 - 00:46:47.430

Spanish, please do. Call us and submit your work. We accept written submissions and we accept submissions on Macintosh three and a half inch discs. Morton Marcus: Okay.

00:46:48.890 - 00:47:04.280

Do we have a short poem to bring this out? Okay. And this is Gaspar Rivera. Once more, could you just go around and give us your your names, and tell us some what you do on the paper before Gaspar gets into this.

00:47:05.750 - 00:47:16.220

Roe Loughlin: Okay, I'm Roe Loughlin, and I wrote the astrology column, and it's on the last page. Margalete Ezekiel: My name is Margalete Ezekiel and I do sort of a little bit of everything.

00:47:18.470 - 00:47:26.810

Enrique Mondragon: My name is Enrique and I do some translations. Morton Marcus: Okay. And it's Enrique Mondragon. Jorge Chino: My name is Jorge, general editor of El Andar.

00:47:27.710 - 00:47:38.030

Okay, Manuel Aparicio: My name is Manuel Aparicio and I'm the manager of production. Cecile Mills: My name is Cecile Mills and I give technical

00:47:38.030 - 00:47:50.300

support. Gaspar Rivera: My name is Gaspar Rivera. And I do every- [Laughter] Not everything, but, you know-

00:47:50.540 - 00:48:08.390

I lot of things. [Laughter] Well, I'd like to say thank you to Morton. And then I'd like to say goodbye to all of you there with a poem in Spanish, with a rescue in solidarity and the hope of the community in

00:48:08.390 - 00:49:21.560

Watsonville: [Poem in Spanish] Morton Marcus: Thank you very much. We have been talking with the staff, all of whom are poets, artists, and very

00:49:21.560 - 00:49:38.450

committed human beings of the bilingual newspaper called El Andar. And I just received a note from a listener who was extremely pleased with the show and to hear all of your stuff, and wants to know the publication's mailing address.

00:49:38.720 - 00:50:00.200

And I will just say that mailing address is, and I'm taking- I'm reading the right one right inside. It is El Andar Publications. E-L A-N-D-A-R publications. Post Office Box 7745. That's Post Office Box 7745 Santa Cruz, California,

00:50:00.260 - 00:50:22.400

95061. I hope you've enjoyed the show tonight. I have this real energy, excitement and commitment and that is always wanted. Let me read you some, again, telephone numbers These are places that need your help in Watsonville: The Migrant

00:50:22.400 - 00:50:50.540

Media Project and the telephone number at the Migrant Media Project is 724-2997, 724-2997 and then Salud Para La Gente is 761-0998, at 761-0998 and remember, they need people to help them clean up damaged houses. They need clothing,

00:50:50.540 - 00:51:07.790

especially children's underwear, any kind of food you can bring over, they need. So this has been the Poetry Show for the night. Next week, Joe will be here. His guest will be - if I find the note; there it is - Chris Funkhouser, who is the

00:51:07.790 - 00:51:22.400

editor of "We," a magazine on cassette tape. And they will be talking about different things in the magazine and what the magazine is all about. Two weeks from tonight, I will be back with Robert McDowell, the editor in chief and publisher of

00:51:22.400 - 00:51:36.590

Storyline Press, which alas folks is leaving Santa Cruz. It has nothing to do with the earthquake. It has to do with how much money it costs to live here. They are on their way to Oregon. So this will be a farewell program for a very

00:51:36.590 - 00:51:49.460

important national small press that has been existing in Santa Cruz, but we have El Andar. Life goes on and maybe this is more important. Life. Thank you very much for listening. And Joe will be back next week.