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Point of Entry
Poems
96 Pages, 6.00 x 9.00 in
In this remarkable collection, Katherine DiBella Seluja explores issues surrounding human migration, juxtaposing poems about the current struggles along the US-Mexican border with her ancestors' experiences of migrating from Italy. Rich in sonic and sensory detail, these poems speak to the strength and resilience of those who leave their ancestral homes in search of safety and opportunities to thrive.
Katherine DiBella Seluja is a pediatric nurse practitioner and a poet.
"Katherine Seluja's new book enriches the literature of diaspora and the border. These cogent, clear-eyed poems acknowledge death and injustice but also celebrate phenomenal survival and resilience. Point of Entry is a humane, consistently compelling volume that reminds us what love, courage, and perseverance look like."--Cyrus Cassells, author of The World That the Shooter Left Us
"In Point of Entry, Katherine DiBella Seluja examines the fraught, contested body of our southern border. Grounded in our current moment, the book also acknowledges the many journeys, across centuries, that terrified children, adults, and families have taken from one country to another. This is a book that recognizes poetry's duty to witness, to speak, and to question the function of fences and walls."--Jehanne Dubrow, author of Wild Kingdom: Poems
"These masterful poems render through body and breath an inner world, an exterior life, a tender, hungry humanity and spirit in action."--Catherine Strisik, author of The Mistress
"With her usual keen attention, sharp eye, and lush language, Seluja walks us through fatal journeys, fractured landscapes, and family histories both broken and enduring. These stunning poems hold precious secrets for survival even as they document grief and loss."--Amy Beeder, author of Now Make an Altar
Desert Manifest
Border Patrol: Truth Be Told
All the Heroes Are Silent
Report from the Undertaker
Because Our Lives Are Small Fires Buried under Dry Fields
We Never Admit the burden of a Star Living in our Chest
Humanitarian Release
To Be Carried This Way
I Am Told Their Marriage Was Arranged
(Mi amorcito . . .)
Carciofo
In Your Letter You Asked about Ceremony
Monastery in the Desert, Abiquiu, New Mexico
Such Is the Story of Leaving
My Grandfather Teaches Me How to Flay the Heart
Caceroleada
Letter to My Suegra from Artesia, New Mexico
The Function of Walls
De la tormenta: Desert Survival
Border Patrol: Por supuesto
How to Lose One Thousand Four Hundred Seventy-Five Children
Unsigned Affidavit
Point of Entry
My Grandmother Told the Story This Way
Letter from the Sky: Dear Border
Postmortem Variations
In the Drawer of My Grandmother's Writing Desk, the Dead Rest
Consider the Night
I Am Told Her Parents Knew Nothing of the Plan
Your Grandmother's Bolognese
On the Day I Order My Ancestry Kit, I Also Order Scopa Cards
We the Dead
(Querida . . .)
Freight Train
The Joy of the Moment Turns Suddenly into a Black Hood with Openings
For One Brief and Shining Moment She Held the World in Her Body
Three Angel Studies
House Made of Fog and Goodwill
Lament for Joaquin Macias
In the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office
Border Response (Deconstructed)
Legend of the Compassionate Brigade
Cesare's Gift
To Be Part of Something Complete and Great
I Ask My Grandmother to Repeat the Story
Poem with a Writing Studio and a Cherry Tree Growing from Within
November Fruit
April, in a Town Full of Fools
We Are Welcomed Home by the US
Border Patrol: La doctora sabe
I Am Told They Remained after the War
The Trees Were Filled with Blossoms but No Bees
(Mi Estrella . . .)
Notes
Acknowledgements
Credits
Border Patrol: Truth Be Told
All the Heroes Are Silent
Report from the Undertaker
Because Our Lives Are Small Fires Buried under Dry Fields
We Never Admit the burden of a Star Living in our Chest
Humanitarian Release
To Be Carried This Way
I Am Told Their Marriage Was Arranged
(Mi amorcito . . .)
Carciofo
In Your Letter You Asked about Ceremony
Monastery in the Desert, Abiquiu, New Mexico
Such Is the Story of Leaving
My Grandfather Teaches Me How to Flay the Heart
Caceroleada
Letter to My Suegra from Artesia, New Mexico
The Function of Walls
De la tormenta: Desert Survival
Border Patrol: Por supuesto
How to Lose One Thousand Four Hundred Seventy-Five Children
Unsigned Affidavit
Point of Entry
My Grandmother Told the Story This Way
Letter from the Sky: Dear Border
Postmortem Variations
In the Drawer of My Grandmother's Writing Desk, the Dead Rest
Consider the Night
I Am Told Her Parents Knew Nothing of the Plan
Your Grandmother's Bolognese
On the Day I Order My Ancestry Kit, I Also Order Scopa Cards
We the Dead
(Querida . . .)
Freight Train
The Joy of the Moment Turns Suddenly into a Black Hood with Openings
For One Brief and Shining Moment She Held the World in Her Body
Three Angel Studies
House Made of Fog and Goodwill
Lament for Joaquin Macias
In the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office
Border Response (Deconstructed)
Legend of the Compassionate Brigade
Cesare's Gift
To Be Part of Something Complete and Great
I Ask My Grandmother to Repeat the Story
Poem with a Writing Studio and a Cherry Tree Growing from Within
November Fruit
April, in a Town Full of Fools
We Are Welcomed Home by the US
Border Patrol: La doctora sabe
I Am Told They Remained after the War
The Trees Were Filled with Blossoms but No Bees
(Mi Estrella . . .)
Notes
Acknowledgements
Credits
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