Description:
When I exited the train I saw the Prudential Center through a large window in the T station, facing Boston. To my left outside of the station is a well tended lawn and a sign that reads "Legal Services Center / Centro de Servicios Legales." To the right is the monument. The monument stands at the corner of Lamartine and Boylston Street. Wooden benches encircle the monument and its text. It is a monolith, with the two texts carved into a light and somewhat faded granite.
About the Author:
Martin Espada was born in 1957 in Brooklyn, New York. Espada is of Puerto Rican heritage. He received his Bachelor's of Art in history at the University of Wisconsin and a J.D. in law from Northeastern University in Boston. Martin Espada is currently an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.[http://www.martinespada.net/][http://openvault.wgbh.org/ntw/MLA000369/index.html]
Response:
Espada's poem is a description of fire and chaos. The fire is an extremely destructive force that causes much anxiety and unrest in the poem. The most concrete and stable force in the poem is Mrs. Baez; her coffee and stability create a sense of peace for the reader who is faced with a horrific picture of white men and landlords who intentionally set fire to buildings for their own gain. This poem hints, in a blunt way, that the people living in these buildings are unimportant to the white man. Espada does this by describing the helplessness of the Dominican people in the buildings. The men are not only weak and suffocating in the fire; they are also unemployed, skinny and cannot read or write. The tension of the poem that is illuminated by the fire speaks to a sense of alienation and marginalization of immigrants in Boston society. However, the presence of the motherly Mrs. Baez and her tiny cups seem to be a kind of solution and peace for those living in situations like this in the US.
By Alexandra O'hara.
