Tell Somebody
Ebook
Tell Somebody is poetry about what is seen, touched, tasted, and heard that takes on the beauty and ugliness in society. Each poem seeks to persuade the overlooked into public light. The collection comments on the exclusion familiar to people that have their backs pressed against the wall and are concerned to arrest the consequences of inequality issuing forth from cultures of cruelty. Readers are welcomed to step into the existential reality of persons who challenge the moral claims of society upon the marginalized found on the streets, in the workplace, and crossing borders. The collection is a contribution to the artistic expression of a time of social conflict, and it offers a careful and thought-provoking resource by which to reflect on the complex issues of identity and justice in the United States.
“Harold J. Recinos’s Tell Somebody is a remarkable triumph. The collection of poetry is a deeply contemplative and poignant exploration of pressing societal themes, including poverty, injustice, and grief. Recinos conjures a vivid and unforgettable portrait of life on the margins, where laborers carry the scent of shattered dreams and are forgotten by mainstream society. Amidst the darkness, Recinos also celebrates the beauty of life and the resilience of the human spirit, creating a work that shines like a constellation of stars and a flock of pigeons taking flight.”
—Ruben Quesada, professor of writing, Antioch University
“The poet sees, hears, feels, remembers, and answers the call to ‘tell somebody.’ These are poems of nostalgia for a city with streets ‘where paradise was felt,’ poems of rage toward the empire with its ‘conquest, wars / greed, stories, legislators, judges,’ poems of bewilderment at ‘the intolerable silence / of God.’ But ultimately, they are poems of love for the disinherited and hope for a light to shine again in the ‘earth-shattering darkness’ of the present.”
—Melanie Nicholson, professor Spanish and Latin American literature, Bard College
“In Tell Somebody, Harold Recinos takes us on a profound journey through the streets of New York, the beaches of Puerto Rico, and the campos of Central America. He reminds us of beautiful children, failed by adults, schools, and churches; migrants who cross dangerous spaces, only to be rejected because of color and language. Read these deeply thoughtful poems by a passionate advocate and come in touch with authentic humanity so you can indeed Tell Somebody!”
—Efrain Agosto, distinguished visiting professor in Latina/o studies, Williams College
“With tremendous heart and hurt, Harold Recinos writes poems that focus the reader on how we fail one another as human beings, and also on how we might live differently, with more empathy, love, and hope. Such is the essential challenge to readers of Tell Somebody.”
—Seth Michelson, associate professor of Spanish, Washington and Lee University
“In Harold Recinos’s urgent, new collection, Tell Somebody, we find poems compelled by cultural crisis to forge connection, to mend afflictions born of difference, to speak the news across not only antinomies within and beyond oneself, but also ‘the gap separating the fingertip / of God and Adam.’ These are poems both unflinching in their attentions and resilient in their prospective aspirations and resolve.”
—Bruce Bond, professor of English, University of North Texas
- Title: Tell Somebody
- Author: Harold J. Recinos
- Publisher: Resource Publications
- Print Publication Date: 2023
- Logos Release Date: 2023
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781666775143, 9781666775136, 1666775134, 9781666775129, 1666775126, 1666775142
- Resource ID: LLS:9781666775143
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2023-07-11T22:47:32Z
Harold J. Recinos is professor of church and society at the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. Among his publications are Good News from the Barrio: Prophetic Witness for the Church (2006), Wading Through Many Voices: Toward a Theology of Public Conversation (2011), Where the Sidewalks Meet (Wipf & Stock, 2022), The Days You Bring (Wipf & Stock, 2022) and The Looking Glass: Far and Near (Wipf & Stock, 2023). He completed the PhD with honors in cultural anthropology in 1993 from the American University in Washington, DC. Since the mid-1980s, Recinos has worked with the Salvadoran refugee community and with marginal communities in El Salvador on issues of human rights.