My American Kundiman

My American Kundiman by Rosal, Patrick. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780892553303.

From one of our most charismatic poets, a personal song to America. This pulsating collection picks up the beat and imagery of Patrick Rosals thrilling debut, Uprock Headspin Scramble and Dive. Here, though, the poets electric narratives and portraits extend beyond the working class streets of urban New Jersey. Modeling poems on the kundiman, a song of unrequited love sung by Filipinos for their country in times of oppression, he professes his conflicted feelings for America, while celebrating and lamenting his various heritageswhether by chatting up St. Patrick, riffing on race relations, or channeling Lapu Lapu in a rejoinder to Magellan. Passionate, provocative, and irrepressible throughout, My American Kundiman further establishes Rosal as a poet to be reckoned with.