La Chascona | Pablo Neruda’s Home

Photo Credit: magical_world
The Chilean Nobel Prize winning poet Pablo Neruda owned three homes in Chile–two outside Santiago and one in Barrio Bellavista in Santiago. His home in Bellavista is named after his third wife Mathilde: “La Chascona” which pays tribute to her unruly hair.
Neruda was one of the strongest influences during my graduate studies in poetry. His use [...]

Tonight I Can Write

Photo Credit: Bracani….Antonio
Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
Write for example, ‘The night is shattered
and the blue stars shiver in the distance.’
The night wind revolves in the sky and sings.
 
A portion of Pablo Neruda’s poem XX, Twenty Love Poems and a
Song of Despair
There are mosquitos the size of bats on the ceiling. I’ve been [...]

Vivir Lo Nuestro

I found this vintage video of two of my favorite salsa singers–Marc Anthony and La India. This song always makes my heart soar–I have to sway my hips to it. The singers were just starting out as artists when they recorded this song together. La India is holding a cigar while [...]

Valzhyna Mort

Please indulge me in some non-Buenos Aires related news. One of my friends, an enormously talented and humble poet named Valzhyna, has a new book entitled Factory of Tears. Her second book of poetry was published by my all-time favorite press, the well respected Copper Canyon.
The press has published some of my writing “mentors” and [...]