Bearing the Mask: Southwestern Persona Poems

Poetry. Latino/Latina Studies. Native American Studies.
From the Foreword: A unique glimpse at a special region known to some as borderlands, this anthology of persona poems gives articulate voice to the many peoples and periods that have made their mark on this scarred and sacred land of deserts and rivers, Indian petroglyphs and fifty-foot marionettes, haciendas and Air Force bases, this ground so varied in climate and culture but so unified in spirit. The spirit of this terra incognita fits its original definition as unknown territory, for unknown also implies undefined and therefore unbound, open to interpretation. The reach of these voices is both global and personal. From Years Following Her Death, Former Texas Slave Silvia King Speaks to a Kidnapped Nigerian Girl to Chester Nez Arriving at Guadalcanal, 1942, these are human voices in all their honesty and depth of caring.–Carmen Tafolla