And This House is Only a Nest

<p><em>And This House is Only a Nest</em> begins with an <em>abuelo</em>-a grandpa-who is not the gentle sort but one that conjures up fear anger work stubbornness and resilience. Then a peek at the poet's father his mother the mocosos on his street classmates locos sparking up joints misinterpreted Bible passages soccer as metaphor-realistic scenes rendered like Dutch paintings. One of the best poems references the Los Angeles Dodgers the late innings with 'three kids two strikes... while visiting his imprisoned father. Surrounded by troubles in the initial poems the last poems soften into a coda that is something like a sigh a sigh of relief leaving that 'lopsided' house called childhood. Having searched for an adult man to emulate the poet discovers to his surprise and ours that he has become that man a husband a father a contemplative figure.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>-Gary Soto author of<em> Baseball in April and Other Stories</em></strong></p><p><br></p>