As a member of the generation of Mexican writers who came into prominence there during the Second World War, Huerta (1914–1982) possessed the rare skill of balancing the poetic craft with precise cultural documentation—which is what makes this terrific compilation from Left Curve
editor Hirschman seem so completely contemporary. An internationally projected set of prayers, elegies and invectives, this bilingual collection offers, for the first time, a substantial cross-section of Huerta's work in translation, gathered from the 15 books of verse published during his lifetime. Passionate, romantic and cutting in their social commentary, the poems are tempered by ruined delicacies, as in "Mississippi Nocturne," where Huerta writes, "and how the weeping of the river, a weeping of dirty eyes,/ continues its infinite dying beneath the tepid moon." Discussed in a biographical introduction from Ilan Stavans (On Borrowed Words;
Forecasts, July 2), Huerta's political views (left revolutionary) are evident throughout the work, partly as a call to action, partly as a tribute to leftist leaders in the Americas and Asia, partly as recognition of the way his ideals have been corrupted or gone awry in practice. In a poem written after the death of Martin Luther King Jr., "This is Called the Burning Flames," he proclaims, "Hello, hello Vietnam, hello poet-priest Ho Chi Minh!/ Hi there, sister ash, brother finger, sister chins,/ hi there, dear Commander Guevara, truth-wind,/ assassinated column...." As in the complex ironies of those lines (well-rendered by poet-translator Normington), the genuine passion reflected in Huerta's ecstatic use of language never escapes a reckoning with reality—a major source of its power. (July 1)
