Raw Materials

When I first read The Absent Husband, Luis' first submission to rumble, I was struck by the honesty of the writing and the stark emotion. I could feel that he was expressing what he had personally experienced and adding his own unique talents to the mix. When he offered me a copy of his book to review I readily agreed knowing his writing has helped rumble stand out from the crowd of e-zines on the web.

The book features a selection of modern poetry along with a number of pieces that might be titled prose. I've read quite a few of the poems and they remind me of his work in rumble: fresh, immediate, drawn from real human experience, wry observations on the human condition taken from everyday life, and the intensely personal visions every writer of talent has:

Write me
I, too, want to be a poem
spell me out
With the ink from a star
Animate me
With small brush strokes
Bring me joy
Because I'm dying of sadness
—Write Me from Raw Materials

The more I read of Luis' work the more I am compelled and motivated to write simply, directly; to strive for the true expression of my own thoughts and experience. This, as some of you might know, is high praise for one writer to offer another. Consider this excerpt:

My mother is practicing voodoo on me. She might as well be dead. That black magic is against everything God teaches. She and father worship the dark horned frog...They have conspired with the Los Angeles Police Department to put me away for a very long time...
—Tales of The Dark Horned Frog from Raw Materials

From social commentary to personal relationships, from the inner hell of a psychiatric institution to the lofty planes of spiritual thought, Luis' first book is a well-rounded effort to find a voice in a crowded field, with too many of his contemporaries babbling nonsense that will disappear in the wind. These poems will last.

I am Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozábal
De La Garza
How easy the name rolls from
My tongue, my native tongue
In first grade I was
Cuate in the schoolyard
In Zacatepec
Later in the same year
I was brought to America...
—Asimilacion excerpt from Raw Materials

• rumble
• current
• bio
• links