Crucifixion in the Plaza De Armas: Poems

Crucifixion in the Plaza de Armas is a collection of Martin Espada's Puerto Rico poems. Espada means 'sword' in Spanish, and the poet contemplates the meanings of his name for conquerors and rebels over the centuries. He writes of colonialism and the movement for independence, from the Ponce Massacre to the epic life of Clemente Soto Velez, a poet imprisoned for 'seditious conspiracy'. Espada also creates a narrative of family, searching the mountains for the grave of his great-grandfather, or bearing witness to the struggles of his cousins to survive. These poems insist on the details that give history a human face and resistance a human voice, finding transcendence in the music of African slaves, in the caves where spirits dwell, even in the miraculous mop of a janitor.