July 8th, 2010 by Matt Lindsey
Poetry on the Border
Benjamin Saenz is a Latino poet living in the Borderland. He lives in El Paso and has been doing a series of poems called Odes to Juarez. Saenz’s choice to stay on the border, creating on behalf of the oppressed and disenfranchised, is admirable. His poems are candid, like a mirror over the Borderland reflecting the raw and painful reality of our brothers and sisters in Juarez.
In the following video posted on the PBS website, Saenz talks about the struggle of living on the border. He says that the Border is, “difficult terrain to negotiate because there are no sense of certainties; the fixed ideas of ones identity, ones national boundaries, the way one uses words can come from all sides and come at you like bullets. It’s not a comfortable place to live and if you want to be a writer you don’t want to live in a comfortable place.” Saenz’s creativity flourishes because he embraces the harsh Borderland, choosing to engage the challenges, oppression and difficulty that he see everyday .
*Photo by Dallas Palmer of downtown Juarez and downtown El Paso.
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16:11 on July 19th, 2010
I’ve always thought that difficulty and limited resources can be, not so much a source for creativity, but a motivation. When your options get narrowed down, you can either submit or you can start to imagine something different. I think that this is why, as a kid, I got so tired of friends who were always whining about there being nothing to do in our small town. There are always ideas. Inspiring stuff. Thanks guys.
17:08 on July 22nd, 2010
Thanks for introducing us to the works of Benjamin Saenz. He has a gift of writing about the people in the borderland, because he is sensitive to the reality of the oppressed there. Continue to “advertise” his works. It is one way those of us on this side of the border can get a glimpse of what it is really like to walk in the shoes of those in the borderland.
09:42 on August 4th, 2010
Wow. His words are the uncomfortable truth most people choose not to hear. Being comfortable is terrible place to be.
God, take me out of my comfort. Expose me to the truth. To your people.