We are excited to share some terrific news about one of our PhD students, David Cruz. Recently one of David's poems (Los inmigrantes) was featured on the front page of the Academy of American Poets in their Poem-a-Day series! David is the first Costa Rican (writing in Spanish, and not second-gen Costa Rican American) to be published in the series.
Here is David's poem, Los inmigrantes:
Valles blancos
han quedado atrás:
empiezan a transformarse
en rocas,
pinos
y águilas.
Cientos de años de viaje.
En el camino
han muerto mis padres.
En el camino
nacerán mis hijos.
And here is an English translation—Immigrants—by our own Tony Geist:
White valleys
left behind:
they begin to turn into
rocks,
pine trees
and eagles.
Hundreds of years on the road.
On the way
my parents died.
On the way
my children will be born.
David's recognition by the Academy of American Poets received significant media coverage in Costa Rica, and La Nación featured and interview with David on the cover of its cultural section!
¡Felicidades, David!