Alarcon started writing poetry when he was 13. "I wanted to transcribe the songs my grandmother used to sing." He sees his poetry as an open-ended dialogue, with readers bringing their own meaning to the works. A virtual whirlwind of interests and passions, besides being a leading Chicano poet, Alarcon is an educator, community activist, and gay advocate.
For him, none of his myriad activities is separate from the others. "Everything is related," he says. "My work as an educator is related to my work as a writer and as a critic. Everything comes together in my own life."
Wounded Words
words
don't know me
if I approach them
they scratch at me
like wild
cats
words
hurt like
open wounds
it's hopeless to clean
and treat them-
they never heal!
PALABRAS HERIDAS
las
palabras
me desconocen
si me les acero
huranas como gatos
me aranan
a mi
me duelen
las palabras
como heridas abiertas
que por mas que limpio y curo
nunca cicatrizan!
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Bio: FRANCISCO ALARCON has written Snake Poems: An Aztec Invocation, Iguana in the Snow and Other Winter Poems, Tattoos, and From the Bellybutton of the Moon and Other Summer Poems.
