Robert Beltran Poetry Reading

Museum of Latin American Art

by Cathy Porlier

Before I start I must ask anyone who reads this, who can offer any corrections, or additions, please feel free to contribute that which I omitted.  Please understand I wrote things down as best as I could and some things didn't get down on paper.  Any errors that were made were due to my awe of Mr. Beltran.

I was very impressed at this evening of poetry.  It was nothing I had imagined and that is what made it so wonderful.  I did have some preconceptions and they were all delightfully wrong.  I love when that happens.

Robert was introduced by a one of the directors of MoLAA, I neglected to write her name down.  She read Robert professional biography, although it was familiar it was a joy to hear.  She gave each of his accomplishments such a boost of pride.  We were surprised to hear that Robert will be going to Texas soon to work on a PBS film, "Broken Sky."  When Robert responded to her introduction and climbed stairs to the stage, I was shocked, again.  It was only the 2nd time I had ever seen Robert, in person.  He has such a large stature, but he is trim as well.  He looked well dressed in a black jacket, slacks, and a grey shirt.  His hair is similar to the style of last November.   He of course had to flash the gentle grin and accompanying dimples. 

Robert thanked us for being there and mentioned he recognized a few faces.  Some from London, Italy and Pacoima.  He told us he would be reading poems from various Latino artists, dating from 1840 to the present.  He also mentioned that some poems would be long and some very short.  But Robert did say he selected these poems for this evening.

He started with "Eve" from Manuel Flores.  This was a beautiful piece, describing God's creation, spring, Adam and, of course, Eve.  The next selections were:

"Ancient Tear"  by Luis G. Obia

The next author's surname I couldn't achieve phonetically, His first two names are Ramón Lopez.  But there is a third name, but he wrote these in 1923:

"Purple Stain"
"Advid Ambivalent Lips"
"Our Lives Are Pendulums"
"Poetry"
"Morning"
"Infinite One"

Next Robert chose a few poems from Octavio Pas.  The first one, I didn't catch the title.  There was a repetitious line: "Listen to Me", possibly that is the it.

"Obsidian Butterfly"
"Words in the Shape of Cloud of Dust"

When Robert was introducing the works of Nickanore' Para, from Chile, he exclaimed he had been having a "good time with him."  This poet has/had a twisted sense of humor.  It was very enjoyable to watch Robert's expressions as he read these.  I could comment on each of these, but all of them are humorous and yet encourage you to think about something you never had before.

"Selone versus rollercoaster"
"No One"
"The Man He Imagined"
"Rest In Peace"
"The Poems of the Pope"

My apologies on my error of the title of this last poem, "New Sermons and Preachings on the Life of..."  I failed to correctly get the persons name.   It is something like Elke or Velke.  I couldn't be sure.  It is my mistake.  But this was written by Nickanore' Para as well.  It too, had the same style.

Robert continued effortlessly to read poems from an author named Judith Ortiz
Coffer.  One had a Spanish title, so I wasn't able to attempt the pronunciation, but
the other one was "To My Father."

Next Robert read from Lynn Alvarez, something very touching called "Graciella's Story."  It was about a young girl, Graciella, nearly 15, and how she avenged the death of her father, and came of age.  It was beautiful to hear Robert tell each of the events and how he added his personality to the characters involved.  The picture he painted with the author's words, it was incredible.  This was very moving and had me wiping a few tears.

"Dream Number 4" was the title of the nest poem and unfortunately I only recalled the author's last name, Castillo.

The final poet Robert chose to read from was Benjamin Saenz.  I wanted to listen to the readings and not get caught up in my note taking.  So if I liked a particular poem or author I put an exclamation mark next to the name.   Next to the first poem by Benjamin Saenz, I put a star.  So something must have really caught me with it. 

"Dark and Perfect Angels"
"Uncle Who Lie Still and Perfect"
"Ricardo"
"Bernardo"
"Benjamin"

At a midpoint, Robert had stopped offered to us a break to the restroom.  We declined.  He said if we needed to, he was sure we could still hear him even in there.  In between poems, he was drink water, a lot of water.  So when he offered a second time for us to use the restroom, he commented he might be in need of one very soon.   

After the poetry was finished, Robert was all to willing to meet each person who was there.  There was a display table set up with the books of some of the authors Robert had read from, and some he hadn't.  He was happy to sign any of the books which were purchased.  As usual, Robert was warm and generous with his time.  He remembered people he had seen so many times before, who have always supported his appearances when possible.  But he even remember those he had only seen once before. 

You could really tell afterward he was definitely in his element.  He loved doing this.  I almost wonder who enjoyed it more, the audience or Robert?   Whichever way it was, I can't thanks him enough for sharing his talent with us that evening.  It is a memory I will carry for a long time.