Where Heaven Sinks: Poems [Paperback]

2024 Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize Winner!

María Esquinca delivers a searing collection of poems that traverse borders—both physical and emotional. Set against the backdrop of El Paso and Ciudad Juárez, these experimental works weave fragmented verses, striking imagery, and bold typography to confront the brutal realities of immigration and identity. With the precision of a journalist and the heart of a storyteller, Esquinca exposes injustice while celebrating resilience and hope. Her work is shaped by the intersection of cultures, histories, and experiences found in the US-Mexico borderlands. Each poem is a tribute to those who have endured and a call to challenge the systems that oppress. Where Heaven Sinks is a love letter, a memorial for those lost, and a testament to the transformative power of language.“María Esquinca writes, cuts, splices, dissolves, screams, and takes feverish notes on the face of the Border Monster—a metaphysical wall with holes, bleeding eyes, and swollen lips of extra-sweet brown-skinned Mamey fruit—her lines figure—skate in and out of the page. Esqunica is not lost, she is on fire and scratched with sticky saguaro patrols and government policies of brutality. She is part document and rage, part quiz and torn back-packer numbering the bones, bodies, guts, and watery skin of pig-like killed human beings—yes, this is how heaven sinks. This is what a border delivers and power-men-legislators seem to bet for. Every line decomposes and composes to call on the Truth of an infected and broken nation and world we have allowed day by day. I applaud Esquinca, a compassionate warrior, a poet-tractor smashing through the razor-wires of oppression. This collection is a winner, a bilingual torch. These poems will prepare you to walk the cruel line between us even though we are the same. ¡Viva Esqunica! ¡ Viva all thl#)