Duende de Burque

Alburquerque Poems and Musings

Manuel González

• Editorial: University of New Mexico Press
• Año: 2021
• ISBN:
  9780826362681
• Categoría: Literature
• Categoría: Poetry

At its center, Duende de Burque is a love letter to Alburquerque and its surroundings—the Sandia Mountains, the Rio Grande Bosque, and all the people whose spirits fill these spaces. It is an exploration of one poet's search for duende, that elusive state of spontaneous expression and authenticity. With a debut in local poetry slam, Manuel González has honed his craft on the stage and on the page for the past twenty years. He has represented Burque several times on the national slam scene, hosted countless slams for people of all ages, and worked to help adults and youths discover the power of self-expression. In this collection, González writes about his beginnings as a poet and his work as the third Albuquerque Poet Laureate. He writes about what inspires him and how he works to inspire others and to craft poems that do the same. In his core is Burque—his heart, his sangre, and the home of his ancestors.

EVOLUTION OF A SOUL

Growing up in New Mexico, my family was very devoutly Catholic. My parents were very involved in the church. When I was a baby my father was already sick, so the priest came to our house and baptized me in a big bowl with a pitcher of holy water. Later I was an altar boy, and I made my first holy communion. Then, when I was old enough, I started the process of being confirmed. That’s when I was old enough to ask questions. I was beginning to read. I read Saint John of the Cross and his dark night of the soul. I read Paradise Lost and saw the Bible from a new perspective. Eventually my questions stopped being answered by the Church. I began to study Indigenous philosophies. I devoured everything to do with pre-Columbian Mesoamerican theology. Later I found Carlos Casteneda, and I read every book he wrote. I read books by the women who followed him. That began my journey into shamanism. I also began to study Taoism, and Be Here Now by Ram Dass changed my life.

My life has been a search for spirituality. When I was twelve years old I went to a preacher-boy camp with the Baptists. I learned how to give a sermon. Now I use that skill to repeat every sermon I’ve ever heard at a Santana concert. I believe in the concepts revealed to Carlos Casteneda by Don Juan Matus. No human being is perfect, and we can find flaws in all philosophers, but does that mean that the philosophies have to be thrown away too? I don’t know, but these ideas really resonated with me.

I studied Mexica thought and philosophy. Ometeotl!

I studied Yoruba, Santeria, and the orishas. Ashe!

I’m open to anything that resonates with truth. My spirituality is an amalgam of thought from around the world—ascended masters and bodhisattvas.

What ultimately evolved into my present-day spiritual beliefs started with my nose in a book. Then I moved on to meditation and journeys into the mind. Exploring psychedelics, studying Terrence McKenna, sweating with sundancers, creating my own rituals that I performed alone by the river, and following a disciplined meditation regime are what helped me write these poems. I haven’t figured anything out yet, but this is a reflection of the journey I’ve been on.

HEART BEAT

As the wind blows
It fills my soul
With the voices of my ancestors
Telling me to forgive the transgressors
It’s like meditation when the thought ceases
It’s like Coltrane cutting his soul to pieces
The vibration increases with each beat of the drum
Connecting me to the one
OM
As my words become spirals
I spin into the infinite vastness of my consciousness
Eliminating my fears
While I’m thinking in spheres

Where am I?

Here

What time is it?

Now

How to be like Einstein
Transcending space and time
Getting closer to the divine
Opening my eyes
Letting me realize the skies
I can see that the rhythm of the earth
Is connected to the heart

Heart beat

The rhythm of the universe
Begins with your pulse
Connecting me to
The one
The I
The three
And for the first time I can actually see
It’s like remembering forever
Before and after
We are all bastards of humanity
And all divine children of infinity
But don’t walk toward insanity
Because most of humanity is still lost
Searching for ourselves
While afraid of who we are
When we’re all just made
Of the same substance as stars

SUM TOTAL OF ME

Understanding the limits of my psyche

Might be the first step to finding limitlessness

Finding my boundaries and breaking them

Learning about journeys and taking them

Shaking my cities to their foundations

Then remaking them

Like the tower of Babble

It’s important that you see what I’m saying

And realize that all sight

Doesn’t come from the eyes

But the sight that stays on the prize

Is the vision

Of this mission

I’m still looking for truth

And for freedom

But now I’m meeting orishas

And learning how to feed them

I’m trying to decipher the code

Of my dreams

With mystic tools

And ancient rules

And elemental spirits to teach me lessons

On how ...