response to Miguel Pinero

I really love the poetry we are reading because there is always one poet who makes me blush and say “Damn, that is art!” This week the poet who won my heart was Miguel Pinero; there seems to be some sort of urgency and dark tone that comes out of his poetry. In his work he shows the ugly side of life and the hardships of surviving in a world where disease, drugs, filth and murder colonize the streets. In his poem, “The Book of Genesis According to St. Miguelito” the speaker reveals how God has purposely neglected the needs and wants of the people of living in the ghetto. However, God seems to be a symbol of power throughout the piece and the one with the last word. In a way the piece is not about God himself, but more about on how politicians or those in power use God as a justification of his or her actions. Politicians tend to always say, “God Bless America” after every speech he/she makes, it is a phrase that is decorated to only suit the middle class or those not struggling to survive. And if one were to say that to a person living in an improvised environment he/she would probably react in an irritated manner given that the environment he/she is living in is not filled with roses and daisies, but instead filled with violence and filth.

Pinero begins the poem by mocking the book of Genesis; however he does so in way where God is seen as the bad guy who created filth in contrast to the God who created beauty in seven days. He states:

“In the beginning / God created the ghettos & slums / and God saw that this was good. / So God said, / “Let there be more ghettos & Slums. / But God saw this was plain/so/ to decorate it/ God created lead-based paint / and then/ God commanded the rivers of garbage & filth/ to flow gracefully through the ghettos.

Here the speaker is describing a God who purposely created ghettos and slums to hinder the survival of the underdog. The speaker of the poem mentions that God decorated the ghettos and slums with “lead based paint” and “rivers of garbage and filth.” This lead based paint is often found in homes which usually cause health problems in children and adults. This shows that God does not care about the health conditions of the people living in the ghettos (who are often people of color of lower income). The poet also uses the in image of “rivers of garbage” flowing in the streets which is also another indication that God viewed these folks in the ghetto as second-class citizens. It is interesting (for the lack of a better word) that the poet chose to use the words “decorate” and “ river” when one thinks of decorating and or nature what often comes to mind is beauty. The fact that poet is using these words to describe the ugliness of the ghetto shows the he is show this urgency that the ghetto needs saving. However, the saving will not happen because God has purposely put it there to hinder the survival of the underdog. “It is clear indication when He states, “NO….COMMENT” later on in the poem. The people are asking for answers for their condition but God refuses to give an explanation. Clearly, the poet is not saying it is God who created this mess, but it is the people in charge who did. For that reason the people who are a product of their environment cannot move up because the people in charge will not or do not give them room in this world.

As the poem progresses God (the people in charge)creates more “goods” for the ghettos and slums:

“God / created the backyards of the ghettos/ & the alleys of the slums/ in heroin and cocaine / and/ with the divine wisdom & grace/ God created hepatitis/ who begat lockjaw/ who begat malaria/ who begat degradation/ who begat/ GENOCIDE”

By bringing in these “goods” (drugs) to the ghetto God is basically saying “Here kill yourself, I don’t care about you.” These goods cause the people to fight against each particularly if he or she is a drug addict and has no income or very low income. It may cause the addict to steal, kill, and what not to get his or her fix. People living in these ghettos become a product of their environment and yet there is no one to help them not even God.

It seems to me that God is symbol of power in this poem, perhaps the power of one’s country. There part when his “main man Satan” is “infecting” folks with the “tree of consciousness” he is educating the masses. Of course, educating folks who are marginalized is bad a thing because that means there will be an uprising which of course in this poem God cannot have. For that reason God calls a conference and tells people to be “COOL” and so it is said the people are ok and cool with what’s happening in their environment. But clearly that is not true because the people in these environments are being neglected and not heard which does not them to prosper with the help of those “in charge.”

Anyway, my point was that people living in this environments are treated as if they are not human and a stripped away from their basic human rights of the pursuit of happiness (whatever it may mean to them). I hope this response makes sense!

--Lizzie Chaidez