Lyrical insights from an immigrant son navigating love, death, acceptance, and belonging along the United States and Mexico border. With a narrative voice that translates the unforgettable into something lyrical and magical,
The Lost Nostalgiasdemonstrates Esteban Rodríguez’s exploration of familial moments that move between the tragic, the trivial, and the triumphant. A mother’s decaying teeth lead to questions of self-care and beauty; a quinceañera becomes a meditation on masculinity; a visit to the bank illuminates a father’s existential fears; and a rave suddenly becomes a reflection on migration and survival. Because nothing is off the table under Rodríguez’s tender lens, everything and everyone becomes deserving of admiration, dignity, and love.
Esteban Rodríguezis the author of eight poetry collections, most recently
Lotería,and the essay collection
Before the Earth Devours Us. He is the interviews editor at the
EcoTheo Review, senior book reviews editor at
Tupelo Quarterly, and associate poetry editor at
AG.I.
Teeth
Shave
Bleached
Dapper
Tongue
Herbalife
Payback
Cure
II.
Home Depot
Biweekly
Nightcap
Hitchhiker
Burro
Requiem
Rome
Pride
Mechanics
Abandon
Trash
Bury
III.
Landlocked
Quincea?era
Bluebonnets
Rain
Shed
Broma
Mojado
Pool
Throw Down
All-State
Blows
Siphon
IV.
Rave
Narratives
Stains
Baptismal
Vet
Yellow Pages
Feet
Elegy
Golden Corral
Piggy
Home
Acknowledgements
"Rodríguez creates enrapturing rhythms through alliteration and recurrent vocabulary--sometimes an incidental word from one poem serves as the title of thlSz