Greyhound Americans

by Moncho Ollin Alvarado

Overview

Dazzlingly queer, inclusive, celestial, with indigenous ancestral heart, Greyhound Americans, by award winning poet Moncho Alvarado, confronts a family history of borderland politics by discovering a legacy of violence, grief, trauma, and survival through poems that have an unmistakable spirit, tenderness, intimacy, and humility. These poems' persistent resilience creates a constellation of songs, food, flowers, family, community, and trans joy, that, by the end, wants you to feel loved, nourished, and wants you to remember to say, “I’m alive, I'm alive, I'm alive.”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781947817364
Publisher:	Saturnalia Books
Publication date:	03/15/2022
Pages:	109
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 7.40(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Moncho Alvarado is a sister-in-residence-in-air, a Cihuayollotl trans woman Xicanx poet, translator, visual artist, and educator. She is the author of Greyhound Americans (Saturnalia Books 2022), which was the winner of the 2020 Saturnalia Book Prize, selected by Diane Seuss. She is a recipient of fellowships and residencies from The Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, Lambda Literary, Poets House, Troika House, the Summer Seminar at Sarah Lawrence College, and won the Academy of American Poet’s John B. Santoianni award. She was awarded the Thomas Lux Scholarship for dedication to teaching.

Table of Contents

Self-Portrait with La Sonora Dinamita Playing in the Background 1

I

Sift 5

Building the Backyard House with Abuelo 7

At Eight 9

My Amá After, a Portrait 11

Abecedarian Payday Inside the Projects 12

September 1996 14

Helping my Amá Practice for her Citizenship Test 16

Pigeons 18

Hot Cheetos con Queso 20

Amá Teaches Me How to Whistle 22

Three Eagles Flying 23

Dear Amá, 27

Hey Pops, 29

Happy Father's Day Amá 30

Is My Life Really Worth 12 Dollars an Hour? 32

How I Eat the Stars 34

A List for Every Time My Depression Tries to Obituary Me 35

II

Prima Perita, a Portrait 39

Tío Urbano Visits Santa Teresa Cemetery, a Portrait 40

Primo José, a Portrait 42

Prima Monse on a Park Bench, a Portrait 43

Tío Danny, a Portrait 44

Tío Willie Working as a Security Guard, a Portrait 45

Prima Refugio, a Portrait 46

My People, a Portrait 48

Mi Gente, un Retrato 49

Prima Nacho, a Portrait 50

Prima Jesus Works on Taco Tuesday, a Portrait 51

Dear Amá, 52

III

Border Walls 56

IV

Watching a Video of Earth from the ISS Live Feed 67

Ameriposx, a Flower Song 68

Fuji Apples 69

Dear Cuñada, 70

Staring at the Sky 72

Prima Pancho's Corrido 74

The 92 Bus 75

Tagging on the Side of a Wendy's 77

An Airplane Pulls a Giant AD through the Sky Saying: Pepsi, Drink It. 78

Dear Primo José, 80

I'm Not Sorry for Being Human & Smoking a Joint While Watching Planet Earth 82

Para Mis Chiquistriquis 84

Dear Hermanita, 85

Dear Hermano, 86

Dear Amá, 88

V

Greyhound Americans 93

Infinite Gratitude 104

Acknowledgements 107

About the Author 109