thepoets

Poems that say much in few words often require more blood, sweat, and tears from a writer than do more verbose offerings. It’s great when short, concise lines from these types of poems deliver lots of subtext. It’s the thoughts, emotions, ideas, and words hidden in the shadows and beneath the words on the paper that bring a poem to life.

Francisco X. Alarcon’s poem “Personal Exodus” does this magnificently. Francisco is a U.S. poet who hails from Los Angeles, California. He oversees the Spanish for Native Speakers Program at the University of California, Davis. He spent time growing up in both Mexico and the U.S.

In his poem “Personal Exodus”, he speaks of origins and where one travels in his or her life journey. He speaks of loneliness and how people can live solitary existences in a world where there is so much activity. The poem conveys to the reader that there is an emptiness to life when we do not have loving family relationships or any meaningful relationships at all.

The poem is written in two parts. There are two lines in this poem that stand out.

From the opening:

and yet I’ve come
from somewhere
to nowhere

to this edge
where dreams
abruptly end

and from the opening of the second section;

I’ve come down
the mountain
empty-handed

I have no wife
son or daughter
waiting for me

The rest of the poem extrapolates these musings to great effect. We sense the feeling of wanting to connect deeply with others in this poem. This poem was published in the Notre Dame Review, Issue #17, Winter 2004. It is precise poetry and a piece I often return to as it inspires my own creative juices with its clarity and focused thought.

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