We are always warned about using nebulous statements and phrases in our work and are told to revise toward more specific aspects of our work. So when ever I read a poet who uses these statements immediately wonder how the poet is able to get away with using such statements. After reading Jimmy Santiago Baca's Black Mesa Poems, I found my self wondering how is he able to get away with this. For instance in the poem Matanza to Welcome Spring Baca runs through a list of things in a song

"Tonight life is
lust
death
hunger
violence
innocence
sweetness
honor
hard work
and tomorrow I will go
to church" (43)

Alot of these are big idea, and as a reader hard to connect with, but for some reason Baca pulls it off. I think he is able to due to the strong sense of place in all of his work. Because the reader is immersed in Baca's wonderful description of the South West and the reader feels so connected to the area through these descriptions it felt like his overarching statements about life were no longer are abstract concepts, but more tangible concepts rooted in place.

The strong sense of place in these poems also got me thinking about the duty of poets in society. Do poets have a specific responsibility to their community? I think this question will bring about a whole slew of questions and debate topics about the advantages and disadvantages of globalization, and whether or not people should think globally or locally.

I do not think I am equipped to answer the question of whether global or local is better, but I do think that poets have a responsibility to their communities. And not just poets but all writers. If we don't write about the small nooks and crannies of our communities they'll disappear and take with them a treasure trove stories and ideas.

So, I greatly enjoyed reading Baca's work, and greatly enjoyed reading about the nooks and cranies of Baca's community. I think the greatest thing I will learn from Baca is how to take these larger than life ideas and squeeze them into a region in order to make those ideas something we can actualy grasp.