Jimmy Santiago Baca Quotes
They turn the water off, so I live without water,they build walls higher, so I live without treetops,they paint the windows black, so I live without sunshine,they lock my cage, so I live without going anywhere,they take each last tear I have, I live without tears,. . . . Read more

-Jimmy Santiago Baca
And so I pray I am today as honestwith myself, with life all around me and below and above me,with all who I encounter.

-Jimmy Santiago Baca
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I culled poetry from odors, sounds, faces, and ordinary events occurring around me. Breezes bulged me as if I were cloth; sounds nicked their marks on my nerves; objects made impressions on my sight as if in clay. There, in the soft language, life centered and ground itself in me and . . . Read more

-Jimmy Santiago Baca
make this day a treeleaning over the river eternityand fuss about in its branches.

-Jimmy Santiago Baca
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I sat back in my wooden chair as they signed the paperwork and stared down at the arm rests, studying the various layers of paint, the chips and cracks. How many hands had gripped them? I wondered. What lives were attached to those hands, what dreams were shattered, what sorrows were . . . Read more

-Jimmy Santiago Baca
I am a face in a trance, evoking duende. My face imbues breath and stuns you with star-spirit. I am grove-face, story-teller face, and dawn-bringer face. A face as common as carrots and celery, called upon as a father to be cook, waiter, servant, and maid.

-Jimmy Santiago Baca
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I emerged from the black oil pools in the forgotten house of dreams in the wild backcountry of the heart. I am heir to the sun, child of Mother Earth and the Mayan galaxy. All the mountain cures and healing waters and winds and junipers run deep in my bloodstream.

-Jimmy Santiago Baca
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It's the process of making-do,of the life I've lived betweenbreakdowns and break-ups, that has made lifeworth living.I could not bear a life with everything perfect.

-Jimmy Santiago Baca
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