Working in the Dark (Magill Book Reviews)

At a glance:

Born in Santa Fe in 1952, Jimmy Santiago Baca was placed in an orphanage as a young boy. By the age of twenty he was in prison, seemingly having fulfilled all of the negative expectations dictated by his circumstances. “I had become the coauthor, with society, of my own oppression. The system that wanted to destroy me had taught me self-destruction. I had become my own jailer and racist judge, my own brutal policeman. I was ruthless to myself, and murdered all my hopes and dreams. I was in hell.”

He was saved by a miracle of sorts. Earlier, in the county jail, he had stolen an anthology of Romantic poetry from a desk attendant. With a primal wonder, he discovered the power of language. At his lowest point, physically and spiritually exhausted after months of battling the prison administration, Baca entered fully into the realm of poetry: “I had become as the burning ember floating in darkness that descends on a dry leaf and sets flame to forests. The word was the ember and the forest was my life.” In time, he would learn that a poet is always working in the dark, journeying within, seeking to penetrate to the heart of things.

The essays in this volume don’t constitute a chronological life-story. Baca takes up a theme, then another, and yet another, looping back and forth in time. From essay to essay there’s a good deal of repetition, and as hyperbole is piled upon hyperbole the law of diminishing returns begins to take effect. Still, Baca’s voice, once heard, won’t be forgotten.

Suggested Readings

Olivares, Julian. “Two Contemporary Chicano Verse Chronicles.” American Review 16 (Fall-Winter, 1988): 214-231.

Rector, Liam. “The Documentary of What Is.” Hudson Review 41 (Summer, 1989): 393-400.