Antes Que Isla Es Volcán/Before Island Is Volcano

The emboldening tour de force from Rivera (Poems for the Nation) illuminates tyranny in his native Puerto Rico and reimagines a decolonized future. Rivera reproaches exploitation, entitlement, and bigotry as he calls for unity and perseverance. Though the subjects of these poems blossom from oppression, the poet does not lament: “we live under fascism.// ...you won’t lose what you don’t have.// we live on stolen time.” In his most deceptively simple poem, he repeats “the independence of puerto rico,” separating “the independence” from “puerto rico” through spacing and parentheses, gradually bringing the words closer, then eliminating independence to form the portmanteau puertorico, visually representing a transition toward unity and sovereignty. Cogent allusions and metaphors (including a discourse with Shakespeare’s The Tempest) form vivid and memorable images. A master of aphorisms, his shortest poem is five words: “changing masters/ didn’t free you.” These poems of protest challenge the status quo in a cry for equity that brings Puerto Rico’s heartbeat to the page. (Apr.)