Lord, Is This a Psalm?

by Jack Agueros

Poetry, Latino/Latina Studies. Jack Agueros was born in East Harlem and has been a lifelong observer of and participant in New York's vibrant Puerto Rican community. A former director of the Museo del Barrio, Agueros has also translated for the New York Public Theater and Sesame Street. Like the title, each of these 65 brief psalms is addressed to God. "There must be a heaven - with subway trains that almost run on time - for any poet with this kind of courage, integrity and humor, who once would have been damned as a heretic, and would have worn the accusation proudly. Agueleros is one street-philosopher who won't let the Lord off with a warning"-Martin Espada.

Genres: Poetry

78 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Emilie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found Jack Agueros taped to a filing cabinet in a middle school classroom, scribbled on cheerfully as all things that are in the vicinity of adolescents are scribbled on eventually. The poem was "Psalm: The Heaven I Want": "...and Lord, if you can do it, Heaven should have subways that run almost on time." It is an awesome poem.
The volume is a great look at both New York City--where Agueros lived--and at the prayers of a man who sees God as...I dunno...a landlord Agueros is both grateful to and often pretty exasperated with. There is something really liberating about reading the thoughts of people who are angry with God and telling him about it.

Excerpt! My favorite? "Psalm for the Onion."

"Lord,
thank you for the onion.
It isn't made of anything
except itself, over and over."

(that's not the entire poem, but it's a taste. It's lovely.)

And here's my other favorite.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admire Jack Agueros's straight-shooting, playful voice in these poems, but I can't deny that I prefer his Sonnets from the Puerto Rican, which combines his down-to-earth sensibility with a little more attention to language and music. But I like that poems like these are being published in a world of slight, frilly New Yorker-style verse.

Also: library shoutout spotted in "Psalm for Unanswered Questions":

Lord, when I die
will the library in heaven
have answers to these questions?

Will there be a library?
Lord, there's gotta be a library!

[Juana Peralta · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Sonnet Substantially Like the Words of Fulano Rodriguez One Position Ahead of Me On the Unemployment Line" is probably one of my top ten favorite poems.
This collection is pretty sweet.