{"id":2328,"date":"2013-08-21T19:32:49","date_gmt":"2013-08-21T19:32:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fourwaybooks.com\/site\/?page_id=2328"},"modified":"2022-11-01T13:51:57","modified_gmt":"2022-11-01T17:51:57","slug":"unpeopled-eden","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/fourwaybooks.com\/site\/unpeopled-eden\/","title":{"rendered":"Unpeopled Eden"},"content":{"rendered":"

[column col=”1\/4″]\"Unpeopled<\/a><\/p>\n

paper \u2022 84 pages \u2022 15.95
\nISBN-13:\u00a0978-1-935536-36-9<\/p>\n

Add to Cart<\/a><\/p>\n

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Unpeopled Eden<\/em> by Rigoberto Gonz\u00e1lez is the winner of the 2014 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, the 26th Annual Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry, and was\u00a0<\/span>a finalist for the Thom Gunn Award for Gay Poetry from the Publishing Triangle.\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n
“Casa” from Unpeopled Eden<\/em> was featured on The Slowdown<\/a>, hosted by US Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith.\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

Unpeopled Eden<\/em><\/h1>\n

Rigoberto Gonz\u00e1lez<\/h2>\n

Unpeopled Eden<\/em>\u00a0opens in Mictl\u00e1n, the region of the\u00a0dead in Aztec mythology, inviting us down into a\u00a0world where \u201cthe men are never coming home\u201d and\u00a0\u201crows of ghosts come forth to sing.\u201d Haunted by\u00a0border crossers and forgotten deportees, lost\u00a0brothers and sons, Gonz\u00e1lez unearths the beautiful\u00a0and musical amidst the grotesque. These mournful,\u00a0mystical poems are themselves artifact, a cry for\u00a0remembrance \u201cfor those whose \/ patron saints are\u00a0longing and despair.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Casa,” from Unpeopled Eden<\/em>:<\/p>\n

I am not your mother, I will not be moved\nby the grief or gratitude of men\nwho weep like orphans at my door. \nI am not a church. I do not answer\nprayers but never turn them down.\n\nCome in and kneel or sit or stand, \nthe burden of your weight won't lessen \nno matter the length of your admission. \nTell me anything you want, I have to listen \nbut don't expect me to respond \n\nwhen you tell me you have lost your job \nor that your wife has found another love \nor that your children took their laughter \nto another town. You feel alone and empty? \nColor me surprised! I didn't notice they were gone. \n\nDespite the row of faces pinned like medals \nto my walls, I didn't earn them. \nThe scratches on the wood are not my scars. \nIf there's a smell of spices in the air \nblame the trickery of kitchens \n\nor your sad addiction to yesterdays \nthat never keep no matter how much you believe \nthey will. I am not a time capsule. \nI do not value pithy things like locks \nof hair and milk teeth and ticket stubs \n\nand promise rings--mere particles \nof dust I'd blow out to the street if I could \nsneeze. Take your high school jersey \nand your woman's wedding dress away \nfrom me. Sentimental hoarding bothers me. \n\nSo off with you, old couch that cries \nin coins as it gets dragged out to the porch. \nFarewell, cold bed that breaks its bones \nin protest to eviction or foreclosure or \nwhatever launched this grim parade \n\nof exits. I am not a pet. I do not feel \nabandonment. Sometimes I don't even see you \ncome or go or stay behind. My windows \nare your eyes not mine. If you should die \ninside me I'll leave it up to you to tell \n\nthe neighbors. Shut the heaters off \nI do not fear the cold. I'm not the one \nwho shrinks into the corner of the floor \nbecause whatever made you think \nthis was a home with warmth isn't here \n\nto sweet-talk anymore. Don't look at me \nthat way, I'm not to blame. I granted \nnothing to the immigrant or exile \nthat I didn't give a bordercrosser or a native \nborn. I am not a prize or a wish come true. \n\nI am not a fairytale castle. Though I \nused to be, in some distant land inhabited \nby dreamers now extinct. Who knows \nwhat happened there? In any case, good \nriddance, grotesque fantasy and mirth. \n\nSo long, wall-to-wall disguise in vulgar \nsuede and chintz. Take care, you fool, \nand don't forget that I am just a house, \na structure without soul for those whose \npatron saints are longing and despair.<\/pre>\n
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About the Author<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[column col=”1\/4″] paper \u2022 84 pages \u2022 15.95 ISBN-13:\u00a0978-1-935536-36-9 Add to Cart [\/column] [column col=”3\/4″] Unpeopled Eden by Rigoberto Gonz\u00e1lez is the winner of the 2014 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, the 26th Annual Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry, and was\u00a0a finalist for the Thom Gunn Award for Gay Poetry from the Publishing Triangle.\u00a0 “Casa” […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2328","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fourwaybooks.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fourwaybooks.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fourwaybooks.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fourwaybooks.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fourwaybooks.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2328"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/fourwaybooks.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18405,"href":"https:\/\/fourwaybooks.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2328\/revisions\/18405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fourwaybooks.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}