Out of all this weeks reading assignments the poem “La Migra” was my favorite, so to start off with here’s a little of what I learned about the author Pat Mora.
Pat Mora was born on January 19th 1942 in El Paso, Texas, her family came to America during the Mexican Revolution. She is married to an Anthropologist and has 3 grown children. Mrs. Mora received two degrees, a BA from Texas Western College in 1963 and an MA from the University of Texas in 1967. She writes about topics such as poetry, children’s books, and nonfiction writing and taught at the university of New Mexico. Her stories seem to show the admiration she has for the Southwest and her herritage.
I also learned that la Migra is a Mexican slang word for the U.S. border cops, and if yelled in out, it can be used to strike fear into the hearts of Mexicans, often causing them to run for the border.
I decided not to decorate the blog with any pictures this time because a lot of the ones I found were somewhat offensive, or in Spanish (and I hardly know any Spanish at all so I thought I’d better not). But here is an interview with Pat Mora.
I thought that “La Migra” was a sad poem, but at the same time it shows strength coming from the Mexican woman in the second part. I like how the poem is divided into two stanzas, because it is expressing point of view of two characters in the poem. in Stanza 1, la Migra expresses how he is going to deal with the Mexican woman, and in stanza 2, the woman replies with how she will beat him at his own game.
“I can touch you wherever I want but don‘t complain too much because I‘ve got boots and kick--if I have to, and I have handcuffs.” Either my head is in the gutter or that was meant to be considered sexual. Which I found especially strange when I read on a few websites that the poem conveys a children’s role playing game.
I liked that a line in the second stanza was left in Spanish, I think that really added to the poem. “Agua dulce brota aqua” which I learned means, "sweet water springs here, here, here"
I’m interested and uncomfortable at the same time thinking about what kind of discussion this topic might bring up in class on Saturday haha. See you all then.
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Hi Christina!
ReplyDeleteI thought our discussion on Saturday was quite civil and open-minded. Wee.
I think your observations about the poem were insightful, especially when you say "I thought that 'La Migra' was a sad poem, but at the same time it shows strength coming from the Mexican woman in the second part." It's interesting how Mora flips the script in part 2 of the poem.
Also, did you see Mora's blog, Share Book Joy? http://sharebookjoy.blogspot.com/
Joyfully,
Dr. K.
Christina,
ReplyDeleteI saved La Migra for last, and ended up spending less time on it than the other two readings. After Saturday’s class discussion on the poem, it looks like you did a great job with your analysis.
As I read your post, the following line made the biggest impact on me: “I also learned that la Migra is a Mexican slang word for the U.S. border cops, and if yelled out, it can be used to strike fear into the hearts of Mexicans, often causing them to run for the border”. As we continue to learn more about the various American Frontiers and the whole story of our past, I’m finding fear to be an important and reoccurring theme. In La Migra, Mora uses a child’s game to strip the border patrolman of his tools of authority and fear. Without them, he’s a helpless foreigner in the desert. To this day, we continue to build borders out of fear, usually baseless fear. For some reason, it’s easier for us to hate or fear than it is to try to understand and connect with another culture, language, or religion.
While researching the Lakota Indians for my presentation with Josh, I learned that Indians were slaughtered because they practiced a new religion called The Ghost Dance. Ironically, the religion was Christian based. We didn’t take the time to understand. Fear took over, and violence followed.
I found the poem more inspirational than sad. Although, I think you point out that you were left with a feeling of strength coming from Mora. I was blown away with the strength of Anzaldua’s piece. Both of these women were fascinating to study last week. I hope you take the opportunity to use your voice more in class. When you do, you have good things to say!
Matt
Christina,
ReplyDeleteYour post on La Migra is excellent. As I think you know, I have very strong feelings about this poem, and I can see that you do as well. I think we addressed in class on Saturday the sexual content of the poem - I think it can be interpreted several ways, but I feel the meaning is pretty sexual. It is frightening to think of all of the ways that the women who are trying to outrun the border patrol must fear for their lives, and being sexually violated is probably up there towards the top. When you read both stanzas of Mora's poem, you understand fear. I think you and I both agree that there is more fear on the part of the woman, but I think the second stanza also might relay some apprehension and fear on the part of the border patrol.
I'm glad you enjoyed our presentation on Saturday. It was both hard and easy to do - just as it is both hard and easy to interpret Mora's poem.
I followed your link on the interview with Pat Mora. She is a very interesting woman. Since she lives in Cincinnati, it would be really interesting to see if she gives lectures anywhere close, but I think a lot of what she does is with her children's books, and that really isn't what we would be looking for - or is it?
Thanks for a very good and insightful post. I enjoyed reading it.
Lou