Poetry Friday Hosting - Rain, Alegria and Secession

Happy Solstice everyone!

Last time I hosted, I made a fun poem of all your links - am I up for the challenge again? We'll see...I will round it up in a separate post late tonight so be sure to check back for the round up.

Wow, it's only 7:30ish in the morning here and there are already 27 poems up! That's fantastic. I'm headed off to work, but will be trying to look through and read each of your poems throughout the day. Sounds like we have quite the diverse and interesting batch as usual! I'm so grateful to Poetry Friday. I'd never get a chance to find all these great poems, discover new poets and read original works without you all. I'm so looking forward to a new year of poetry with you all!

It's Solstice, the Lakota Nation has announced that they will secede from the U.S. and become their own country (!), I turned 46 and I just launched a cooking website. It's been a crazy, wild, wonderful December. What a way to end the year.

Happy Holidays everyone! Here's Mr. Linky and please do leave a comment.

My Poetry Friday offering is Claribel Alegria (her name just makes me smile), with an interesting little poem in Spanish called Tamalitos de Cambray. I'll do my best to translate it for you. I've also attached two Youtube videos, one in English, one in Spanish so you all can get to know the lovely Ms. Alegria a little better. I love when she talks about how how important reading is.

TAMALITOS DE CAMBRAY

(5,000,000 de tamalitos)

A Eduardo y Helena que me
pidieron una receta salvadoreña.

Dos libras de masa de mestizo
media libra de lomo gachupín
cocido y bien picado
una cajita de pasas beata
dos cucharadas de leche de Malinche
una taza de agua bien rabiosa
un sofrito con cascos de conquistadores
tres cebollas jesuitas
una bolsita de oro multinacional
dos dientes de dragón
una zanahoria presidencial
dos cucharadas de alcahuetes
manteca de indios de Panchimalco
dos tomates ministeriales
media taza de azúcar televisora
dos gotas de lava de volcán
siete hojas de pito
(no seas mal pensado es somnífero)
lo pones todo a cocer
a fuego lento
por quinientos años
y verás qué sabor.

Claribel Alegria

Little Cambray Tamales

(makes 5,000,000 little tamales)
- for Eduardo and Helena who asked me
for a Salvadoran recipe


Two pounds of mestizo cornmeal
half a pound of loin of gachupin
cooked and finely chopped
a box of pious raisins
two tablespoons of Malinche's milk
one cup of enraged water
a fry of conquistador helmets
three Jesuit onions
a small bag of multinational gold
two dragon's teeth
one presidential carrot
two tablespoons of pimps
lard of Panchimalco Indians
two ministerial tomatoes
a half cup of television sugar
two drops of volcanic lava
seven leaves of pito*
(don't be dirty-minded, it's a soporific)
put everything to boil
over a slow fire
for five hundred years
and you'll see how tasty it is.

*pito means to whistle, it's also an sleep-inducing herb; but there's another translation. It's slang for penis (which is why she is saying don't be dirty minded).

So wow! The Lakota Nation and Russell Means are seriously doing this. Wow. I wonder how events are going to unfold. Any thoughts? When I hear the word secession, I think of Ashley Wilkes leaving Melanie and Scarlett at the barbeque. This is serious. Wow.

That's it! You're rounded up here.