Posted especially for the last one:
Commercial Break
Are your images inefficient?
Is your diction bland? Tired
of writing poetry that doesn't
work? Then consider
what a Mexican can do for you.
Strategically placed, a Mexican
will fire up your drab, white
poems. At Pretty White Poetry
we have an inventory
of Mexicans in all shades
of brown. Need an authentic-
indigenous tone? Try our mud-
brown, Indian Mexican.
Your audience will taste
the lust in Montezuma's loins
as they devour your work.
Want some spice
but not too much pepper?
A Spanish concentrated
Mexican is the perfect touch.
Maria, tortilla, mango, trabajo—
just a sample of the thousands
of exotic words on sale
waiting to decorate your lines.
Even Hispanic poets sprinkle
our Latin lingo into their writing.
If our diction brings authenticity
to their work, imagine what it will
do for yours! PWP understands
the difficulty of crafting well-paced
rhythmic lines. So we've imported
salsa-smooth Puerto Rican
vernacular* to make your diction
dance and your syntax sway.
Don't worry about mixing
Mexican and Puerto Rican
imagery—most readers won't
know the difference! PWP deals
exclusively with safe language.
Our words are carefully chosen
to be edgy but never make liberal
white readers uneasy. That means
more publishing opportunities
for you! Our Mexicans are cheap,
but they are always high-quality.
Here at PWP, our motto is:
"If your poem has Mexicans
you know it's gonna work!"
*Puerto Rican vernacular available only while supplies last.
Taken from
http://www.sharkforum.org/2007/01/po...ercial-br.html
Paul Martinez Pompa has lived in the Chicagoland area for most of his life. He studied at the University of Chicago and at Indiana University, where he received his MFA in creative writing. His chapbook, Pepper Spray, was published by Momotombo Press in 2006. He currently teaches English at Triton College. His writing has appeared in After Hours, Borderlands, and Rhino.
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The man reading the poem is not the poet. He is a poet though, and I ran across this reading while looking for a poem he wrote regarding a wolf - which I cannot find on YouTube. I did hear a section of it in the poetry foundation's poetry lectures podcast which I recommend if you are as nerdy-in-love with poetry as I am.