Hispanic Sonnets -- Alex Z. Salinas

<p>In Alex Z. Salinas' previous poetry collections, he commenced conversation between the damaged body politic within himself and the bizarre, sometimes beautiful dream worlds of writers, painters and musicians-Muses-living and dead. In Hispanic Sonnets, the dials are turned up, the stakes (whatever they may be) are heavier, and the chorus of voices is louder, clearer. Hispanic Sonnets is part homage to the venerated and part turning the other cheek. In the final section of this book, a series of 15-line, free-verse sonnets continue the dialogue Salinas started in South Texas, or, to him, the center of his heart. This collection is the dream the poet still lives in, shattered and stitched back together with family, love, loss, pride and dignity; in short, Hispanic Sonnets is the book that least embarrasses him. </p><p><br></p><p>A note on Hispanic sonnets</p><p><br></p><p>What is a Hispanic sonnet? It is a 15-line, free-verse poem with a separated last line as its own</p><p>stanza. Each Hispanic sonnet's second and final stanza-that lonely little manmade</p><p>island-serves as its volta, or turn, meaning that where the poem ends in idea, tone, or spirit is</p><p>not necessarily where it begins.</p><p><br></p><p>Let it be known, then: a Hispanic sonnet is not really a sonnet.</p><p><br></p><p>Shakespeare transformed the 14-line English sonnet. Petrarch perfected the much-older 14-line</p><p>Italian sonnet. Wanda Coleman dazzled with her rule-busting, 14-line American sonnets,