I Ask the Impossible: Poems

by Ana Castillo

An Anchor Books Original Cherished for her passionate fiction and exuberant essays, the author hailed by Julia Alvarez as "una storyteller de primera," and by Barbara Kingsolver in The Los Angeles Times as "impossible to resist," returns to her first love—poetry—to reveal an unwavering commitment to social justice, and a fervent embrace of the sensual world. With the poems in I Ask the Impossible, Castillo celebrates the strength that "is a woman buried deep in [her] heart." Whether memorializing real-life heroines who have risked their lives for humanity, spinning a lighthearted tale for her young son, or penning odes to mortals, gods, goddesses, Castillo's poems are eloquent and rich with insight. She shares over twelve years of poetic inspiration, from her days as a writer who "once wrote poems in a basement with no heat," through the tenderness of motherhood and bitterness of loss, to the strength of love itself, which can "make the impossible a simple act." Radiant with keen perception, wit, and urgency, sometimes erotic, often funny, this inspiring collection sounds the unmistakable voice of a "woman on fire" and "more worthy than stone."

Genres: Poetry, Love, Latino, Nonfiction, Female Authors

146 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 20, 2001

About the author

Ana Castillo (June 15, 1953-) is a celebrated and distinguished poet, novelist, short story writer, essayist, editor, playwright, translator and independent scholar. Castillo was born and raised in Chicago. She has contributed to periodicals and on-line venues (Salon and Oxygen) and national magazines, including More and the Sunday New York Times. Castillo’s writings have been the subject of numerous scholarly investigations and publications. Among her award winning, best sellling titles: novels include So Far From God, The Guardians and Peel My Love like an Onion, among other poetry: I Ask the Impossible. Her novel, Sapogonia was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. She has been profiled and interviewed on National Public Radio and the History Channel and was a radio-essayist with NPR in Chicago. Ana Castillo is editor of La Tolteca, an arts and literary ‘zine dedicated to the advancement of a world without borders and censorship and was on the advisory board of the new American Writers Museum, which opened its door in Chicago, 2017. In 2014 Dr. Castillo held the Lund-Gil Endowed Chair at Dominican University, River Forest, IL and served on the faculty with Bread Loaf Summer Program (Middlebury College) in 2015 and 2016. She also held the first Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Endowed Chair at DePaul University, The Martin Luther King, Jr Distinguished Visiting Scholar post at M.I.T. and was the Poet-in-Residence at Westminster College in Utah in 2012, among other teaching posts throughout her extensive career. Ana Castillo holds an M.A from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D., University of Bremen, Germany in American Studies and an honorary doctorate from Colby College. She received an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation for her first novel, The Mixquiahuala Letters. Her other awards include a Carl Sandburg Award, a Mountains and Plains Booksellers Award, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts in fiction and poetry. She was also awarded a 1998 Sor Juana Achievement Award by the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum in Chicago. Dr. Castillo’s So Far From God and Loverboys are two titles on the banned book list controversy with the TUSD in Arizona. 2013 Recipient of the American Studies Association Gloria Anzaldúa Prize to an independent scholar. via www.anacastillo.net

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

“I ask the impossible: love me forever.
Love me when all desire is gone.
Love me with the single mindedness of a monk.
When the world in its entirety,
and all that you hold sacred advise you
against it: love me still more.
When rage fills you and has no name: love me.
When each step from your door to our job tires you--
love me; and from job to home again, love me, love me.
Love me when you're bored--
when every woman you see is more beautiful than the last,
or more pathetic, love me as you always have:
not as admirer or judge, but with
the compassion you save for yourself
in your solitude.
Love me as you relish your loneliness,
the anticipation of your death,
mysteries of the flesh, as it tears and mends.
Love me as your most treasured childhood memory--
and if there is none to recall--
imagine one, place me there with you.
Love me withered as you loved me new.
Love me as if I were forever--
and I, will make the impossible
a simple act,
by loving you, loving you as I do”

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Melpomene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simmering with passion and politics Ana Castillo writes from a heart bursting with love for her country and her people. I thoroughly enjoyed this collection and am eager to read more of her work. Admitting that she is unschooled in writing but writes from her passion for exploring race, sexuality and gender in her writing her words pull at you, shake you and soothe you all at once. If you love Neruda, Allende,Lorca, et al you'll love Ana Castillo.

[Aidan Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

These poems were beautiful! They combine personal and political passions and stories. There are tributes to Dianna Ortiz (a US nun raped and tortured by Guatemalan death squads and spared by the mysterious English-speaking man who led them when he found out she was a Yanqui), Anna Mae Aquash, Chico Mendes, and Comandante Ramona of the Zapatistas. There is a letter to the Pope castigating him for allowing the souls of downtrodden women to go to Hell. There is a love letter to her native Chicago lamenting its gentrification. There are many poems of love of her son and her mother. There is a celebration of a woman who leaves her abusive husband. There is a demand for a man to love his wife when the physical attraction and emotional connection fades. She sings praises for Tatehuari, the supreme god of the Huichol people, and Papantla Flyer, a sacred game of the Totonacs. There are memories of being refused service in a diner for being Mexican and of disappointment when she found out that Cleopatra was not black.

[Corbin · Rating 3 out of 5]

In much poetry I seek that phrase, line, or verse that is memorable, multi-layered, and ever revealing. I did not find this in this volume, excepting perhaps the title phrase and its poem on love. But what I did find were penetrating observations about patriarchy, colonialism, and urbane modernity. Plus a few shared memories about Chicago, San Francisco, and the Southwest. Castillo sees and feels for all of us, and presents these simultaneously personal and universal insights in everyday discourse instead of with unnecessary artifice.

[Sean]

I’m a fan of Castillo’s novels and so decided to give this poetry collection a try. There are some memorable ones here for me but overall I don’t think it will stick with me as much as her fiction. Her energetic, unapologetic voice is refreshing and her view of Chicago especially gives me a lot to think about.

[Darold Barb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful. Disturbing. Erotic. Perturbing. Visceral

[behsforensics]

Cutting is for The Bridge Poem and Women
Don’t Riot
By Kate Rushin and Ana Castillo

[Becca · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this collection because the first poem in this compilation is one of my favorites. But it just wasn't there for me. Perhaps the blurb on the back of the book that describes her poetry as revealing "an unwavering commitment to social justice" should have tipped me off. I just don't like to mix my politics with poetry.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Love me as your most treasured childhood memory---
and if there is none to recall---
imagine one, place me there with you.
Love me withered as you loved me new."
I love the first poem in this book.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in one day during my daily commute from one end of Chicago to the other. Loved this collection of poetry which in some parts read like short stories. Really hoping for another Ana Castillo poetry collection to be published in the future.

[Sandra Trevino · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cherish the poetry in this book because it is so pure. It feels like home.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the poetry and I usually don't care that much for poetry.
Great books

[Rem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic poetry. Reminds me of Sandra Cisneros.

[Mo · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful, angry poems that got me through this horrorshow of an election night

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mexican poet.

[Spectra Speaks · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite poem is part of this collection :)

[Chana]

i really like ana castillo..

[Fernanda Bueno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poems that should be read by every woman.