Poetry Connection | Connecting with Ancestors and Día de los Muertos

During a day-long celebration of the Day of the Dead, Santa Barbara came to life. The community celebration and Oaxacan calenda (procession with music and dancers and larger-than-life puppets) was something we had never experienced before in our town. I am very grateful to have participated in the procession and in the Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s pre-calenda activities. The Santa Barbara Museum of Art outdid itself with altars and activities for the whole family. Many people sported their flower crowns and decorated skull necklaces. The Día de los Muertos activities made for a colorful audience. While people waited in costume for the calenda, some dropped by to hear poetry and song in the galleries.

I prepared a small altar in honor of my muertitos, my deceased loved ones. The museum suggested three 15-minute sets of poetry and music. In hindsight, this format would work better in longer sets. I was also dressed for the occasion and my flower and twig headdress made managing my microphone headset a challenge.

The first set focused on poems from How Fire Is a Story, Waiting and the companion song I had written for the book. The first audience was made up in large part by a tour group. A few friends attended, and it was so nice having familiar faces there. The museum’s tall ceilings meant that sound became dispersed. I made a mental note to purchase a proper microphone and stand for situations where one was not available.

An hour later, I presented my second set, which consisted of poems from Bird Forgiveness and the theme song, written for guitar. The Bird Forgiveness theme song was based on a poem, “What the Birds Know,” about my time taking care of my grandmother during the last month of her life. I have many poems and songs that honor my deceased loved ones. I also presented a tune that was born as a song: “Love Always Wins.” This was a big breakthrough for me because I am fairly new to playing music and writing songs. I wrote my first song four years ago and I wrote “Love Always Wins” this past summer after a friend suddenly passed away.

Some of my favorite poems have been assignments or requests. Many people ask me what it is I do as Poet Laureate, and a large part of the Poet Laureate duties is to write poems for various occasions or institutions. I wrote an inaugural poem when I was installed as Poet Laureate at City Hall, a poem for the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, and recently a poem for Perla Batalla, who asked if I wanted to read poetry during the musical interlude of her “La Llorona” set at the Marjorie Luke Theatre. I was thrilled because I’ve been a longtime fan of Perla Batalla and her music. She has a gorgeous voice. Her version of the song “La Llorona” is a favorite. Reading the poem on stage with her and her band and daughter was a dream.

My third set for the Día de los Muertos celebration was my “La Llorona” set. I read the poem that I had written for Perla and played the companion song that I composed. In the mythology of La Llorona, she is a woman who wanders and hollers in search of her children. There are different stories, in one of the more popular stories, La Llorona (“she who cries”) drowns her children because her lover does not want them. In my poem, La Llorona is tasked with helping the children who have crossed the border and who are alone. She is redeemed. I was humbled to be able to share this poem and song as part of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s Día de los Muertos celebration. By the third set, the audience was filled with people in costume, faces painted; everyone was ready for the calenda procession to Paseo Nuevo and the Museum of Contemporary Art for the final stop with tamales and aguas frescas.

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Last Words to La Llorona

by Melinda Palacio

The poet’s coffin is made of books.

She said, bury me with my books,

Send me down the Rio Grande.

Even La Llorona needs to read.

Llorona, I dedicate this poem to you.

Read these pages before my coffin sinks into mud.

If the ink should bleed onto pebbles at the bottom

of the river, do not worry.

I have memorized them all. I will sing to you.

But please, cover me, for I grow colder.

I know where you went wrong, Llorona.

You are here and this is my last flor y canto.

On the river we will float on a song.

My last dying wish: Protect the Children at the Border.

Children have left their homes with nothing

But a name and a flower embroidered on their sleeves.

Llorona, redeem yourself, redeem them, redeem me.

Aye de mi Llorona, ayudales. Save the children.

La Respuesta / La Llorona’s Response

by Melinda Palacio

I have come to take your hand, child.

Don’t think you’re in a stranger’s land.

Don’t you know I’ve always been here

You belong here too.

First, they came for the children

Then they came for the land

Built a wall so high, crushed butterflies

To a fine pulp, their royal wings discarded.

When I met the Devil,

his cloven hooves wanted to dance.

I knew better. I will not lose again.

My children died in this river.

I will escort you out of this hell.

What they say is a lie.

He alone has jailed the children.

All at the border.

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Upcoming Poetry Events:

November 4, Mission Poetry Series  Featuring Lynne Thompson, Julian Talamantez Brolaski, and Gustavo Hernandez, Faulkner Gallery, 1 p.m. Free.

November 8, Blue Whale Poetry Series Featuring the Indy’s own George Yatchisin and Robert Krut, at Unity of Santa Barbara, 227 E. Arrellaga St., 5:30-7 p.m.

November 12, Gunpowder Press anthology launch and reading  Out of the Ground: Poems Inspired by Santa Barbara Botanic Garden,  Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, 1212 Mission Canyon Rd., 2:30 p.m.

November 16, Fire Songs  An Evening of Poetry, Stories, and Music with Melinda Palacio, 6 p.m. at UCSB MCC Theater.