Poet Analysis

John Olivares Espinoza
By Isaias Faustino February 1, 2013

 
    Photo by http://www.john-olivares-espinoza.com/

 BIO: John Olivares Espinoza was born and raised in Indio, California in 1978. His parents are Mexican-Americans. He spent a large part of his youth landscaping with his father. Later on in life, he went on to attend the University of California where he earned his B. A. degree in creative writing. Soon after, he graduated and got his M. F. A from Arizona State University. Espinoza now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

The poems by John Olivares Espinoza in The Wind Shifts, serve as a bridge into the Mexican American/ Hispanic life, and they also act as a mirror/window towards the reader. The poems talk about struggles and hardships that a Mexican-American encounters while living, and trying to prosper in America. Most of them dealing with John's personal experiences.

The first poem that I choose is called "Contemporary American Hunger". In this poem John talks about going to McD's as a little kid, and mom buying two cheeseburgers with pure change, "Mom Pulled out her blue purse, laid out A buck thirty-eight- Two quarters. Six dimes, five nickels, and three parking-lot pennies". The way John describes this situation with detail, tells the reader how bad Mr. Espinoza's family was doing financially. But with him being so young, he didn't really seem to mind. This is a situation that many people in encounter in life and it's something helps mold who they will become. I know for me, seeing my parents struggle financially while growing up, has made me appreciate things a lot more.

The second poem is called "Aching Knees in Palm Springs". It's about John and his brother working for their father's landscaping business. They work all day on their knees pulling out weeds from rich peoples yards, in very hot weather. While reading the poem I could feel the frustration and the tiredness of John. He wanted to tell his father how hard and long the job was but stayed quiet, "Because I knew what he would say. It's the only way to put you through school - this oily sweat. I kept my tongue hidden behind my teeth." This tells the reader how hard one needs to work, in order to achieve success because nothing is given easily. In John's case, he had to work hard to get his education and to better his life. 

The final poem that I choose is called "I Go Dreaming, Raking Leaves". In this poem, John after 6 six years of not working in the Landscaping business, dreams of raking leaves. This speaks volumes of how much the landscaping work has affected him. "I rake a small pile, toss half into a plastic can And another pile takes its place." This tells me that even though he has a degree, the problems in life still keep coming.

These three poems show different situations but the same theme, a struggle. All coming from John's past.  Even though the poems show a window into the life of a Mexican-American. They can easily relate to anyone because every person at some point in life will face struggle. This is where I see a bridge into the Hispanic community because people can relate to them. Mr. Espinoza's poetry also resembled my life immensely, this is the mirror that I saw as reader.