“Maine Yet Miami” by Richard Blanco- https://poets.org/poem/maine-yet-miami 

In Richard Blanco’s “Maine Yet Miami,” the speaker (who we can assume to be Richard Blanco) writes about living between his two cultures: his Cuban heritage and his growing up in America. The poem uses the extended metaphor of a trip Blanco is taking from Miami to Maine in order to discuss his journey of discovering his identity and belonging. In totality, the poem shows how Blanco feels trapped between his two cultures, and doesn’t feel like he belongs to one fully. 

Blanco begins the poem with lots of imagery and euphony, especially when he describes the  “soft harp of snowfall.” Then he contrasts this peaceful image to the “bongo of thunderstorms rapping the rooftop.” This contrast may demonstrate the contrast between his Cuban heritage and his American upbringing, and how they are constantly conflicting to him, especially as a child. Blanco also notices the differences between Maine and Miami, especially in their culture and language. In Miami, he is surrounded by Cuban culture and traditions familiar to his Cuban family. However, in Maine, he experiences more American culture. This contrast reflects how Blanco is both curious about both cultures, but is uncomfortable with the fact that he does not fully belong to one, and feels slightly out of place in both Miami and Maine. 

The title, “Maine Yet Miami,” is significant because it reflects the contrast present throughout the poem. Maine represents his traditional American culture, while Miami reflects his Cuban culture. The word “yet” in the title signifies he feels connected to both cultures, but also contrasts them at the same time. The title represents Blanco’s divided identity and the fact that both places and both cultures have shaped who he is.

A shift in the poem occurs towards the beginning of the poem when Blanco transitions from describing his trip (through the imagery discussed above) to reflecting on what the trip meant for him personally. The poem begins with more details and observations that compare the two places physically, but later becomes much more introspective, which shows the emotional impact that the difference in these two places had on Blanco. This shift makes the poem less about travelling between two places and more about self-discovery and identity.

In the second half of the poem, we see another shift from cultural contrast to themes of love and memory. Blanco says he married “a man who can only love me in his English,” but also says he “grew courageous enough” to do so. I believe he included the phrase about courage because marrying a man without a Latino background was a big step for Blanco in the sense that he chose to lean more into the American side of his identity. However, Blanco balances this out by repeating the Spanish words “amorcito, tesoro, ceilo” to his lover, showing how Blanco still finds comfort in Spanish. This may even suggest that Blanco feels more emotional weight when speaking in Spanish, once again showing the impact of his contrasting identities. 

Blanco continues the theme of his contrasting identity by using food imagery. He mentions “meatloafs and apple pies,” which are classic American dishes; he says he still has memories of his mother’s “onion-smothered vaca frita and creamy flan.” The contrast becomes yet another metaphor for his culture, and even though he has assimilated into American culture, his Cuban culture still remains close in his memories.

In conclusion, this poem transitions from Blanco feeling “trapped” between two cultures to learning to maintain both at once. Rather than choosing between Maine or Miami, he chooses to embrace his dual identity.

Full poem: https://beaconbroadside.com/2018/06/12/one-pulseone-poem/ 

This poem by Richard Blanco was written in response to the Pulse Nightclub shooting. Pulse was known for being a gay nightclub, and the shooting was viewed as having homophobic intentions. This was the deadliest shooting of its time, claiming the lives of 49 and injuring 53 others. This event caused a call to action for more gun control in Orlando and beyond. 

This poem was written in free verse, meaning it has little structure or rhythm. I believe Blanco chose this so that he could connect with his audience better, especially when he says, “Here, sit at my kitchen table, we need to write this together.” By inviting the reader to sit with him and offering them a cup of “café con leche,” Blanco immediately makes the reader feel more invested in what he has to say. It gives the reader more of a personal connection to the poem, as if Blanco is telling them a story directly. In the next few lines, I find it ironic when he says, “but let’s not start with tears, or the flashing lights, the sirens, nor the faint voice over the cell phone when you heard ‘I love you’ for the very last time.” Blanco tells his audience he won’t start the poem on a grim (yet realistic) note, but in doing so, he does end up starting the poem this way. I believe he does this to show the reality of the mass shooting, without sugarcoating it. 

Lines down, Blanco uses repetition when he recalls the birds outside his window chirping “bendicion-bendicion-bendicion.” In Spanish, bendicion translates to blessing. This is symbolic because most of the Pulse Nightclub shooting victims were Latinx, so their native language was likely Spanish. Bendicion translates to “blessing” in English. Blanco likely repeats this three times to show how everyone is in mourning for this loss, even the birds. When someone commits a hate crime, they affect the whole community, not just those directly affected. Richard Blanco also identifies as a gay, Latino man, so this shooting likely affected him more directly, which also may have motivated him to write this poem.

At the beginning of the second stanza, Blanco uses alliteration when he says “bullets, bodies, death,” and cacophony continues into the next lines when he says, “vocabulary of violence,” and “mute, choked in our throats.” I believe he uses these harsh words with repeating harsh syllables to emphasize how horrific the shooting was to the victims, the community, and their friends and families. In the last lines of this stanza, Blanco writes, “use warm words to describe the cold bodies of our husbands, lovers, and wives, our sisters, brothers, and friends.” He uses this contrast between warm words and cold bodies to acknowledge the wrongful murder of the victims, and how they didn’t deserve it (thus, we will use warm words to remember them). Additionally, he uses polysyndeton when he lists the relationships of the victims. This humanizes them even more and gives the reader an additional connection to the event. For example, thinking of someone as a victim is less personal than thinking of them as a spouse or a sibling. 

Blanco’s last stanza is a call to action. The first two stanzas really connected the audience to what he had to say, and now he is telling them how they should feel about it. Of these feelings is “anger in the hollow ache of our bones,” and an “anger for the new hate… for the wrong skin color… accent in a voice, for the love of those we’re not supposed to love.” This reinforces the fact that Blanco condemns this hate crime, but also hate as a whole, for things that define many people (sexuality, race, nationality, etc.). He encourages people to “place each memory like a star, the light of their past reaching us now… reminding us to keep writing until we never need to write a poem like this again.” He reminds people to look to the past and not repeat their actions. However, he also says that if these actions recur, people should keep fighting until they don’t. 

The sun is still down and maybe even downer.

Two owls, one white and one large-eared,

dive into a nothingness that is a field, night-beast

in the swoop-down, (the way we all have to

make a living). Let’s be owls tonight, stay up

in the branches of ourselves, wide-eyed,

perched on the edge of euphoric plummet.

All your excellencies are making me mouse,

but I will shush and remain the quiet flyer,

the one warm beast still coming to you in the dark

despite all those old, cold, claustrophobic stars.

In this poem by Ada Limón, she uses a tone that is almost dreamlike, but also serious at the same time. The poem has a soft message and uses lots of euphony, such as “euphoric” and “warm.” However, Limón also mixes in a lot of cacophonous words, such as “plummet,” “claustrophobic,” and “beast.” I believe she uses these together to show the duality of the scene; the peacefulness of the night contrasted with the seriousness of the late-night conversation. She also uses an extended metaphor of the owls, and how beautiful they are in the night, surrounded by stars, but it gets more serious when they are hunting for dinner, and kill the mice. This predator to prey relationship between the mice and the owl may also be significant in the sense that it reflects how they felt small in the presence of someone they felt important to. She says, “All your excellencies are making me mouse,” suggesting she felt like the prey when she was in her relationship.

I also find the title interesting. If the poem stood alone, without the title, I don’t think I would’ve guessed it was about a conversation on relationships. The title, “Midnight, Talking About Our Exes,” frames the poem in an emotional and personal way. A lot of people can relate to having a deep conversation in the middle of the night with a close friend, and some can relate to that conversation being about a previous relationship. Once we know Limón is talking to someone about this topic, the imagery of owls, mice, and stars starts to make more sense and become more personal. Owls are also known as symbols of wisdom, but also hunters, which increases the opposing tone in this poem. This juxtaposition shows the way exes can influence our memories as both wise, because we once loved them, but also as painful because they hurt us.

Another thing I noticed was the structure of the poem. Limón uses relatively short lines, with lots of enjambment. This causes the reader to quickly jump from scene to scene, but still keeps a fluid pace. The phrase “where we all have to make a living” is an example of an enjambment, and it breaks the line unexpectedly to emphasize the underlying struggle in the tone. In addition, the mixture of commas and line breaks, without many periods, creates a sense of reflection, as one might do in a late-night conversation. This emphasizes the uncertainty in relationships and the mixture of love and hatred she has towards her previous relationship.

Overall, this poem combines effective imagery from nature, sound choices, and purposeful structure to create a reflection of love, loss, and relationships. Through the imagery of serenity mixed with a sense of tension, the poem reveals the emotional complexity of past relationships, allowing readers to experience the beauty and unease of her reflections.

“How to Triumph Like a Girl”

Ada Limón

I like the lady horses best,

how they make it all look easy,

like running 40 miles per hour

is as fun as taking a nap, or grass.

I like their lady horse swagger,

after winning. Ears up, girls, ears up!

But mainly, let’s be honest, I like

that they’re ladies. As if this big

dangerous animal is also a part of me,

that somewhere inside the delicate

skin of my body, there pumps

an 8-pound female horse heart,

giant with power, heavy with blood.

Don’t you want to believe it?

Don’t you want to lift my shirt and see

the huge beating genius machine

that thinks, no, it knows,

it’s going to come in first.

This poem explores gender identity, specifically that of being a woman. My interpretation of the poem is that Limón is using juxtaposition between female horses and society’s view of females. Limón discusses how she likes female horses best because they can do crazy things, such as running 40 miles per hour while making it look easy and fun, just like the male horses can do. I feel like she alludes to the fact that horses do not face any separation based on gender, and that a female horse is just as likely to win. She says, “…no, it knows, it’s going to come in first,” showing horses, unlike some humans, don’t see gender as a definite prediction of who will win a race. Limón recognizes this strength and wishes she, too, had it within her, shown when she says, “as if this big dangerous animal is also a part of me…” The title, “How to Triumph Like a Girl,” suggests that horses may carry the key to female success, and maybe it is the ability to see past gender, since horses don’t understand that concept. 

Similar to Limón, I, too, wish I were able to embrace the lack of gender stereotypes like horses do. It is definitely hard in society for anyone to see men and women as perfect equals, even if that is what we are “supposed to do.” History has proven this time and time again. For example, it wasn’t until the 19th century that women gained the right to vote. And even then, it wasn’t a walk in the park. They had to fight against so many men, and probably other women too, for a basic right that every citizen is granted today. If horses were able to vote, this passage leads me to believe that they would not discriminate for such a basic task like voting. 

A time I wish I had kept this “female triumph” is when I played baseball in elementary school. I was the only girl in the Little League for three years, but I never saw a problem with that. It wasn’t until I started to get older and people from other teams would make comments about my gender that I started to feel more uncomfortable. I ended up quitting baseball and switching to ballet, but I wish I hadn’t listened to society’s and the other kids’ ideas about who should be able to play what sport– especially at such a young age.I found it interesting how Limón uses the contrast between “delicate skin” and “an 8-pound female horse heart.” This really elaborates on her point, showing how women can be both soft and powerful. It also challenges society’s stereotype that being feminine is synonymous with being weak, which is not true. Overall, I greatly enjoyed this poem, but more so the deeper meaning behind it. I am a firm believer in Limón’s stance on femininity, as elaborated on above, and I find it powerful how she connected that stance to a well-known animal.

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