Life is NOT Nothing

This poem in my mind is somewhat contradictory. You can never have a poem about nothing because a poem about nothing is something. That is why I feel that Julia de Burgos agrees with me. Life is not nothing. When the person in the poem is talking to a person who feels life is nothing, the toaster is very sarcastic in the way the person is complying to the nothing-life person's philosophy.

Storni's Obsession With Female Body (especially hands)

Storni has a weird obsession with body parts that are associated with both men and women.  In Alfonsina Storni's poem, "Lyrical Letter to the Other Woman," she uses certain female body parts as a way to express womanly beauty.  First she talks about delicate, sweet, and slender hands.  Then she mentions arms, then eyes/brows, then lips, then hands and lips (kissing hands).  What is odd about these body parts is that they are associated with both men and women.  She did not mention body parts that only women have.  Her descriptions weren't really sexual or anything typical.  She chose body parts that may be overlooked when describing a woman.  Had a man been writing a similar poem, the body parts chosen to describe may have been ones that men do not have.  I thought that it was interesting how the perspective changed when a woman described a beautiful woman as opposed to other poems that we have read where men describe beautiful women.

Guillen really has a thing for the Soviet Union

It seems to me that Guillen, an Africuban, wants his country, Cuba, to be more like the Soviet Union.  He notices that there is absolutely no Soviet influence in Cuba.  "Never have I seen a Soviet trust in my country...a bananna plantation."  I get the feeling from this poem, that Guillen actually admires the Soviet Union.  Being part African, Guillen most likely experienced a fair amount of racism.  He claims that in the Soviet Union, he"never saw White Only-Colored Only" signs that he was probably so accustomed to seeing. He points out the Cuban corruption and the trust of Soviets when he talks about the different ships being questioned.  Those ships never "sent a thing without the gentle taste of friendly bread and generous flavor of a brother's voice."  Guillen sees the communist Soviet Union as a brother, unlike much of the world at that time.  At the end of the poem, Guillen talks about joining up with the Soviet Union to fight.  He knows that he is offering to the Soviets a dark and candid heart," but he believes very strongly in the Soviet Union's overall strength and ideals.

Being Different Killed Vallejo in "Black Stone Lying on a White Stone"

Not only do I like the brevity of Cesar Vallejo's "Black Stone Lying on a White Stone," but I also like how the title is possibly representative of what the poet is conveying in the poem (in my opinion).  It is very interesting how he connects the title of this poem to his life and political beliefs.  Not only was "[putting] his upper arm bones on wrong" possibly representative of a different type of abstract painting not popular at the time, Picasso's work, but Vallejo in general was all about being different, at least from his home country's point of view.  Vallejo was a man not commonly found in Peru.  In fact, he was arrested for erroneous charges in Lima, Peru he was exiled from France for charges of being a communist.  He supported the Russian Revolution.  Black and white are two opposite colors.  He might have felt like a one black stone living in a community of white stones, where is completely different.  Vallejo may have felt that because he was different, he would be killed in Paris (where he spent the last three years of his life), and probably did not express his political beliefs violently because of the statement he made, “Cesar Vallejo is dead. Everyone beat him, although he never does anything to them (non-communists); they (non-communists) beat him hard with a stick and also with a rope.” In those times, being a communist supporter in certain areas was a crime, possibly punishable by death.  Vallejo was expressing in this poem the pains of being different.  Also, it is easy to distinguish the difference between black and white.  So, this title may imply that it was easy to distinguish a communist from a non-communist.

The WIll of Nature in "The Decapitated Chicken" Cannot be Opposed

Although, Quiroga's stories like "The Decapitated Chicken" or "The Feathered Pillow" were quite disgusting and grotesque, nature was what created the disgusting scenes.  The nature was bizarre and almost unrealistic; one blood-sucking parasite becomes the size of  a pillow, and one couple creates four "idiot" and zombie-like children.  Aside from his extremely tragic and violent life, Quiroga's writings were greatly influenced by the modernismo movement at attempt to be different.  Nature, a popular subject of these writers, became the driving force behind some of the tragedies in his stories.  Nature created the giant parasite and the zombie children.  Nature at this point in history could not be tamed.  No matter how hard the couple from "The Decapitated Chicken" tried, they could not produce a "normal" child until there third try.  However, a spoiled daughter is born and eventually, is tragically killed by the four freaks of nature.  That somewhat innocent murder was a sign that nature rules.  The parents of the children were so concerned about there children being ideal that finally when nature had granted wish, their wish eventually was killed.  Nature created the opposite of what the parents wanted.  The nature of the "idiot" boys killed the parents' wish.  Nature prevailed over selfish desire.

Is Dario Calling Out Roosevelt?

It seemed to me, after reading "To Roosevelt," Dario is challenging the United States.  This negative view of the U.S. is like no other of the Latin American authors we have read in the past.  In the beginning of the poem, Dario claims that the United States is intending to invade South America.  However, he compliments Roosevelt many times through out the piece.  He tells the President "You are a strong, proud model of your race; you are cultured and able, you oppose Tolstoy."  Then, he will claim the Roosevelt's policies are crazy, like his environmental polices.  "You are a professor of Energy as the current lunatics say."  Next, he tells Teddy how powerful and intimidating the U.S. can be: "The United States is grand and powerful. Whenever it trembles, a rpofound shudder runs down the enormous backbone of the Andes. If is shouts, the sound is like the roar of a lion."  Clearly, Dario has some kind of respect for the U.S. as a whole for its size and strength.  Although, he has this respect, Dario also feels that South America has great potential and cannot be controlled by the U.S. "A thousand cubs of the Spanish lion are roaming free."  He feels that God is on their side and that before the U.S. decides to invade South America, they had better become powerful enough to do so or God will stop them from taking Spanish America.  "Roosevelt,  you must become, by God's own will, the deadly Rifleman and the dreadful Hunter before you can clutch us in your iron claws.  And though you have everything, you are lacking one thing; God!"  Obviously, Dario has a solid amount of confidence in his own continent unlike people like Bolivar and Bello as times have changed.  It is an odd coincidence or clever pun that Dario called Roosevelt a "Rifleman" and "the dreadful Hunter" because Roosevelt was such an avid hunter even though he was all about environmental protection.