Alan Pelaez Lopez Essay

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The Poetic Voice of Alan Pelaez Lopez Dr. Alan Pelaez is an Afro-Indigenous artist who was born and raised in Oaxaca, Mexico. He is a poet whose work deeply resonates with topics of identity, trauma, and resilience. As a non-binary poet with the background that they have, Lopez’s poetry looks to address the crossroads of race, gender, and immigration status. Their poems are a reflection of their memorable and significant moments, usually exploring the concept of what it means to be illegal and the impact it has on a person and how the perspective they develop of their identity (Lopez, “On ‘in the Heights, Immigration, and when ‘Latindad Falls Apart”). Lopez has created many works, but what has stood out to me the most are their three works— “The …show more content…

By moonlight, we rest and dream of home far away. This haiku is to describe the relentless journey that they go through. The poems explain the constant movement and longing for a safe and familiar home. These haikus collectively portray not only the physical but emotional challenges of those migrating. The intense nature of these memories is shown through the haikus in this poem. In this poem, Lopez also uses imagery to bring the harsh reality of migration to life. For example, “Nightmares of coyotes and desert nights” evoked the dangers and fears faced during the journey. The imagery of “footprints on sandbanks” and “shivers from the past” shows both physical and psychological steps of their travels. The use of symbolism shows itself in the poem such as rivers, moonlight, and home which covet ideas like transition and rest. They use the River to show the danger, but the moon which gives them a brief break and breath of air, yet home symbolizes an unattainable and distant home. They also use repetition, as the word “we” repeats itself multiple times, to show the collective struggles of the migrants. Juxtaposition is also used, "there are moments of hazard, and moments of

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