Candela

By Rudy Calderón

True artists are defined by the scope and depth of their work as a measurement of their works value. Caldern here takes the leap of faith to continue chiseling away at the sacred vocation of verse. He has proven to be unrelenting in this pursuit. A philosopher-poet by nature, Calderns fourteenth book brings together poemas and songs to impart his worldview as a man of letters. His strong grasp of the English and Spanish languages allows him to move back and forth with ease and speak to the present and posterity in languages that would have made Shakespeare and Cervantes applaud his literary ingenuity. The first part of the 21st century is, indeed, observing one of the most prolific and enduring American poets that has given the English and Spanish speaking world an extensive array of writings to be enjoyed and analyzed by todays society and generations not yet come.

Los artistas verdaderos son definidos por el alcance y profundidad de sus obras para rendir una medida de sus escrituras. Caldern aqu toma el salto de fe para coninuar tallano sobre la sagrada vocacin a los versos. Rudy Caldern ha comprobado ser implacable en este bsqueda. Un poeta filosfico por naturaleza, el decimocuarto libro une poemas y canciones para impartir su cosmovisin como un hombre de letras. Su entendimiento del ingls y espaol permite que fluya facilmente para hablar con el presente y la posteridad en idiomas que hubieran hecho que Shakespeare y Cervantes aplaudieran su ingeniosidad literaria. La primer parte del siglo veintiuo est, en verdad, observando uno de los ms prolificos y durareros poetas americanos quien ha dado al los hablantes del ingls y espaol una extensa coleccin de obras para ser disfrutados y anlizados por la sociedad de hoy y las generaciones que todava no han llegado.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jan 11, 2012
• ISBN: 9781467872829

Rudy Calderón

Rudy Calderón was born in the metropolis of Los Angeles, California, in 1974. He is a first-generation Mexican American whose family came to the United States to make a better life. They worked the fields of California by picking strawberries, lettuce, squash, and tomatoes. Calderón has seven other brothers and sisters and a loving mother, Ana Munguía. For his undergraduate degree, Calderón was graduated from California State University–Bakersfield with honors (cum laude) majoring in history and taking a minor in political science in 2001. He is grateful to the CSU Bakersfield history, philosophy, religious studies, and political science departments for giving him rigorous, challenging, and many out-of-comfort-zone experiences. As a university student, Calderón had his worldview expanded exponentially. As a graduate of El Camino Junior High School and Santa María High School, Calderón returned after his university training to work in these schools for a few years. He was voted by his colleagues as the "Site Teacher of the Year" for the 2007–2008 academic school year while teaching at El Camino Junior High. As a tutor at SMHS, he learned invaluable teaching skills as he helped students develop their critical thinking and communication skills to better understand subjects like history, government, economics, Spanish, and English literature. As a poet, Calderón has been privileged, in an excessive manner, to publish sixteen books of verse. In 2004, he was a featured reader at the eighth Annual Latino Book and Family Festival, an event hosted by actor and social activist Edward James Olmos. He’s been invited to and has read his work in renowned poetry venues like the Nuyorican Poets Café and the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City. As a California native, Calderón has been invited to and has read in various cities throughout the state. For several years, he has been a featured reader at the global event known as the 100k Poets for Change. Being a teacher and poet has been an enriching experience for Calderón. Finding the opportunity to build his teaching roots in the progressive Lucia Mar Unified School District, Calderón taught from 2010–2015 at Paulding Middle School. He was awarded the District Teacher of the Year for the 2013–2014 school year. Currently, Calderón teaches AVID, English-language development, and World History at Arroyo Grande High School. For more information please visit www.uni-vurs.com.

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Rudy Calderón

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© 2012 Rudy Calderón. All rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 1/6/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4678-7281-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4678-7280-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4678-7282-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011961129

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

To the memory and legacy of my poetic soul brothers

Introduction

Introducción

A revolutionary patience

It is as if…

I shall be with you

I remember you

The nocturnal journey

Daybreak

To have wings

The clandestine river

I’ll stay quiet

Time moves along

The beginning of a new day

Another morning

A little bird

All is movement

Life is a dream

Much is spoken

The city has changed

The necessary power

Today I ate hope and faith

I thought that it was all a phase

Much talent, little effort

Goal!

The crepuscule

Prisons kill some

Waves and their history

Laundromats give perspective

Sea of abandonment

Asking for a handout

After a good breakfast

What to do?

They say

36 years

Ensenada, maybe

So many fantastic visions

Walk without interruptions

My dove has arrived

Never shall we be one

Indigenous without light

Her golden eyes

You show your beauty

Curly and long hair

My island

My guitar

Let be

She is

Dark woman

Closer to heaven

Walls of cement

The doors of understanding

I crossed the bridge

It was not enough

May God console your soul

The encounter

Between the banana trees

From the other side

Two seconds

Ode to Arroyo Grande, CA

Candela

The river ran dry

Una paciencia revolucionaria

Es como si…

Estaré contigo

Te recuerdo

La jornada nocturna

El amanecer

Para tener alas

El río clandestino

Mejor me cayo

La cinta corre

El empezar de un nuevo día

Otra mañana

Un pajarito

Todo es mover

La vida es un sueño

Se habla demasiado

La ciudad ha cambiado

La potencia necesaria

Hoy comí esperanza y fe

Pensé que era sólo una fase

Mucho talento, poco empeño

¡Golazo!

El crepúsculo

Las rejas sí matan

Las olas y su historia

Las lavanderías dan perspectiva

Mar de desamparo

Pidiendo limosna

Después de un buen almuerzo

¿Qué hacer?

Dicen

36 años

Ensenada, tal vez

Tantas visiones fantásticas

Caminar sin interrupciones

Mi paloma ha aterrizado

Jamás seremos uno

Indígena sin luz

Sus ojos de oro

Tú enseñas tu belleza

Pelo tercio y largo

Mi isla

Mi guitarra

Dejad

Ella es

Mujer oscura

Más cerca al cielo

Paderes de cemento

Las puertas del entendimiento

Crucé el puente

No fue lo suficiente

Que Dios te dé un beso en la frente

El encuentro

Entre la platanera

Desde el otro lado

Dos segundos

Oda a Arroyo Grande, CA

Candela

Se secó el río

Llegando a la tierra de los jarochos

Con rumbo hacia Xalapa

Toña la Negra

Danzón de los Ojos

La gitana de Xalapa

Dream state

Vestido jarocho

Tres realidades

Díaz-Mirón

Un hombre obrero

Mis dos culturas

¿Dónde están los músicos?

Zapaterías Ubicuas

Ignacio de la Llave

Somos cuervos blancos

Entre lunas y mares

Soy el hombre

Solté, cerré, dejé

Where bohemians roam

Daddy’s Little Girl

Prisoner in Corcoran

Le di Candela

Una santera

It’s been some years

Tú eres como un pavo real

El barco de Jerez

About the Author/ Sobre el Autor

Forthcoming Novella

Books Also By Rudy Calderón

I Wonder if you will Ponder: A Collection of Poems (2003)

Existential Fighting Through My Writings (2004)

Mi Familia Mexicana: Versos Sinceros (2005)

Letters to the Wind: A Transcendental Spirit (2005)

Canto Ubicuo (2006)

Sangre del Sol / Blood of the Sun (2006)

gritos en el monte (2007)

Borrad la fecha de existencia / Erase the date of existence (2007)

Destierro en Acapulco (2008)

Capitán Sin Mar/ The Sealess Captain (2008)

Cazando al Jabalí y Otras Obras (2009)

Caballo Azabache y Poemas en Puerto Rico (2009)

El Colibrí / The Hummingbird (2010)

To the memory and legacy of my poetic soul brothers

Pablo Neruda

Amado Nervo

Walt Whitman

José Martí

Langston Hughes

Juan Ramón Jiménez

Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi

Ernesto Cardenal

Charles Baudelaire

Federico García Lorca

W.H. Auden

Omar Khayyám

Charles Bukowski

Antonio Machado

Stephen Crane

Khalil Gibran

Toward Heaven, where his eyes see a shining throne,

The serene poet raises his reverent arms,

And the vast visions of his lucid mind

Shut off from him the sight of cruel races…

Be blessed, my Lord, who give suffering

As a divine remedy for our impurities

And as the best and the purest essence

Which prepares the strong for holy ecstasies!

-Charles Baudelaire