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Cool Salsa
By Stephen Herold
Jan 31, 2002 -- It's usually best that way, and in this case certainly so.There are two things that seem to characterize all Americans: they are of a gypsy nature and willing to roam across the earth, and no one is pure. Taking the restless and ambitious parts of mankind and blending them together is our social and political experiment. I can see Jefferson setting me up to realize this as he tinkered with the idea of democracy and its wider implications. How all these people adapt to America and create a common consensus follows deeply worn paths. Each immigrant group trods the same lines of discrimination, distrust, adaptation and assimilation, then on to the next.
Cool Salsa, edited by Lori Carlson, is a powerful and touching bilingual anthology of young Latino poetry. Not surprisingly it shows sharp focus on some feelings and omits others. The poems show pride, confusion, sadness, joy and weave together to mirror a culture. Originally written in both English and Spanish, each is translated into the other so all Latinos can use it. Several translator's worked on the book, and their work shows much fidelity, and sometimes the translator is also the author. In a couple of cases there is no translation because the poem is bilingual and actually can't be translated with meaning. Consider these verses from "Espectaculo acuatico" by Daniel Jacome Roca:
...Soy
un hombre orquesta;
soy un tenor
un baritono
una soprano
un coro
de voces falseto;
o tan solo un conjunto de percusion
africano, antillano
o mixto
al gusto del consumidor....
Which Lori M. Carlson renders well into "Aquatic Show":
...I am
a one-man band;
I'm a tenor
batitone
soprano
a chorus of
false voices;
or only a percussion group
African, Antillean
or mixed
according to your pleasure...
As we grow up we learn our main patterns for life and shape the wondows of our outlook. All these poems are by people growing up and telling us what they see and where they seem to be going. We need this kind of book for many more languages. The book is inexpensive due to school use and brisk sales and is a bargain at $4.50.
Stephen Herold operates the Wit's End Bookstore in Fremont. He can be found there often during store hours.
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