salima rivera
salima rivera was a poet and activist known for her powerful voice in advocating for social justice, particularly within Chicago’s Latino and Puerto Rican communities. her work blended poetry with activism, addressing issues of inequality, cultural identity, and the struggles of marginalized communities. as a key figure in the Chicago literary scene, she used her writing to amplify voices that were often overlooked, leaving a lasting impact on both literature and activism. themes in her poetry focused on ocial justice, cultural identity, resistance, womanhood, love, and community empowerment.
selected poems:
these selections embody how i feel as a writer & poet, and how i feel as a woman- nakayla monét
a bumper crop
Words, like weeds,
are sprouting everywhere.
My mouth and throat are choked with them,
wild fairy rings waiting to be gathered and dried.
I pick through them and press them between
sheets of cheap paper,
stuff them into envelopes
and mail them out
to anyone who’ll have them.
I’m running out of space.
My kitchen drawers, closets, file cabinets
are overflowing with words,
spilling into every nook and cranny
of the house.
Sell them, my friends say, sell them.
Finely shred them and steep them in deep mugs
to make intoxicating brews
or tamp them into exotic pipes
and smoke them to induce
psychotic visions.
No, I say.
Socrates sipped a tea like this
and look what happened to him.
The D.E.A. may bust me for
illegal trafficking.
This harvest of verbiage
has grown out of hand.
What I need is a drought
so I can winnow out the chaff,
storing the remaining grain
for the famines to come
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contradictions
I am a contradiction;
a quiet woman listening to the breathing
of her children as they sleep.
I scream and yell at them when awake.
I’m proud of the knowledge
I’ve gained through the years;
ashamed of my ignorance,
hypocrisies, fears.
I seek a god I know little of;
denying his presence in moments of need.
I cry, “I LOVE YOU!”
in raging desire;
a love that’s illusion
like the god that I seek.
I care about friends for the people they are;
yet despise the people
for the friends they are not.
I endure life
with laughter and tears
believing only
in the truth
of my smile.
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Source: Poetry Foundation
Bumper Crop:
Notes:
“A Bumper Crop” was first published in It’s Not About Dreams (Erato/Poetry, 2014). It is reprinted with permission of Kayla González Huertas.
This poem is part of the portfolio “Salima Rivera: A Chicago Rican Poet.” You can read the rest of the portfolio in the March 2024 issue.
Contradictions:
Notes: “Contradictions” was first published in Nosotros Anthology: A Collection of Latino Poetry and Graphics from Chicago, Revista Chicano-Riqueña 5, no. 1 (1977), edited by David Hernández, and subsequently published in It’s Not About Dreams (Erato/Poetry, 2014). It is reprinted with permission of Kayla González Huertas.
This poem is part of the portfolio “Salima Rivera: A Chicago Rican Poet.” You can read the rest of the portfolio in the March 2024 issue.
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