Semansky is an instructor of English literature and composition. In this essay, Semansky considers Espada's poem as a political poem.
Espada is a political poet at a time when the relevance of both politics and poetry has become significantly challenged in the American popular imagination. He is largely successful not because his politics agree with the poetry-reading public, but because they enliven the art. Espada does not use poetry as a vehicle for his politics; rather, he fuses the two to create work that various readers can appreciate, whether they agree with his political positions or not. "Colibrí" is an example of such a fusion.
Espada titles the poem with the name Spanish colonizers gave to the hummingbirds they found on the island of Borinquen. Doing so highlights the role of language in the.....
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