Pat Mora (Texas: 1942)
Poet, writer, former teacher, university administrator, museum director, and consultant, Pat Mora is a popular national speaker who promotes creativity, inclusivity and book joy. Pat Mora is a popular national speaker at conferences, campuses, libraries and schools. Her writing is influenced by her cross-cultural experience between Mexico-USA border, recognizing then human and cultural diversity of the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. She is the author of many books of poetry and children's books. Her book, House of Houses (2008), is a family memoir told in the voices of ancestors. Her newest book of nonfiction is Zing! Seven Creativity Practices for Educators and Students (2010).
Professional website
Poet, writer, former teacher, university administrator, museum director, and consultant, Pat Mora is a popular national speaker who promotes creativity, inclusivity and book joy. Pat Mora is a popular national speaker at conferences, campuses, libraries and schools. Her writing is influenced by her cross-cultural experience between Mexico-USA border, recognizing then human and cultural diversity of the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. She is the author of many books of poetry and children's books. Her book, House of Houses (2008), is a family memoir told in the voices of ancestors. Her newest book of nonfiction is Zing! Seven Creativity Practices for Educators and Students (2010).
Professional website
"Elena," read by Maria Guarino.
Elena - Pat Mora
My Spanish isn’t good enough.
I remember how I’d smile
listening to my little ones,
understanding every word they’d say,
sus bromas, sus canciones, sus historias
Vamos a pedirle dulces a mamá. Vamos.
Eso era en México.
Now my children go to American high schools.
They speak English. At night they sit around
the kitchen table, laugh with one another.
Me paro en frente de la estufa y me siento tonta, sola.
I bought a book to learn English.
My husband frowned, drank beer.
My oldest said, "Mamá, he doesn’t want you
to be smarter than he is." I’m forty,
avergonzada por no pronunciar las palabras correctas,
embarrassed at the laughter of my children,
el mandado, el cartero. Sometimes I take
my English book and lock myself in the bathroom,
para pronunciar suavemente,
si me detengo estaré sorda
por si algún día mis hijos piden mi ayuda.
My Spanish isn’t good enough.
I remember how I’d smile
listening to my little ones,
understanding every word they’d say,
sus bromas, sus canciones, sus historias
Vamos a pedirle dulces a mamá. Vamos.
Eso era en México.
Now my children go to American high schools.
They speak English. At night they sit around
the kitchen table, laugh with one another.
Me paro en frente de la estufa y me siento tonta, sola.
I bought a book to learn English.
My husband frowned, drank beer.
My oldest said, "Mamá, he doesn’t want you
to be smarter than he is." I’m forty,
avergonzada por no pronunciar las palabras correctas,
embarrassed at the laughter of my children,
el mandado, el cartero. Sometimes I take
my English book and lock myself in the bathroom,
para pronunciar suavemente,
si me detengo estaré sorda
por si algún día mis hijos piden mi ayuda.
"Legal Alien," recited by Cam Croy.
Legal Alien - Pat Mora
Bi-lingual, Bi-cultural,
able to slip from “How’s life?”
to “Me’stan volviendo loca,”
able to sit in a paneled office
drafting memos in smooth English,
poder ordenar en español clarito
en un restaurante mexicano,
American but hyphenated,
viewed by Anglos as perhaps exotic,
perhaps inferior, definitely different,
vista como "alien" por mexicanos,
(sus ojos dicen, "Puedes hablar español
pero no eres como yo")
an American to Mexicans
una mexicana para los americanos
a handy token
sliding back and forth
entre las fronteras de dos mundos
sonriendo
by masking the discomfort
of being pre-judged
Bi-laterally.
Bi-lingual, Bi-cultural,
able to slip from “How’s life?”
to “Me’stan volviendo loca,”
able to sit in a paneled office
drafting memos in smooth English,
poder ordenar en español clarito
en un restaurante mexicano,
American but hyphenated,
viewed by Anglos as perhaps exotic,
perhaps inferior, definitely different,
vista como "alien" por mexicanos,
(sus ojos dicen, "Puedes hablar español
pero no eres como yo")
an American to Mexicans
una mexicana para los americanos
a handy token
sliding back and forth
entre las fronteras de dos mundos
sonriendo
by masking the discomfort
of being pre-judged
Bi-laterally.