18 pages • 36-minute read
In Colorado My Father Scoured and Stacked Dishes
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Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
“Middle Passage” by Robert Hayden (1941)
Corral acknowledged the influence of Robert Hayden in the development of his own poetic style. Corral admired Hayden’s use of real-time issues and hot-button controversies as well as his dedication to revision and his search for the right words to make the right sonic impact, whatever the subject. Here Hayden examines the brutality of the slave trade in lines that reflect his dedication to sonic patterns and aural effects.
“Persimmons” by Li-Young Lee (1986)
Often paired with Corral’s “In Colorado,” this translingual poem is part of the movement that first celebrated the cultural diversity of the US in the fin-de-millennium era. Lee, a first-generation Chinese American, uses the poem as a reflection on how all languages work to capture the precious moments found in nature. Like Corral, Lee fuses English with expressions from his native language to suggest the power of language to transcend cultural boundaries.
“Bent Tones” C. D. Wright (1983)
Corral cites C. D. Wright as an important influence, illustrated by her ability to balance moments of beauty, care, and individuality against a backdrop of labor, instability, and systemic challenges. From Wright’s carefully structured free verse, Corral drew inspiration for crafting innovative lineation, fragmented rhythms, subtle consonant and vowel patterns, and energetic enjambment, where lines flow seamlessly into one another without end punctuation.
Further Literary Resources
“Interview: Eduardo C. Corral” by Yezmin Villarreal Rivera (2013)
Originally appearing in the literary journal BOMB and now available online, this extensive interview allows Corral to shed light on his poetry’s use of language, his admiration for Robert Hayden and C. J. Wright, and his conception of poetry as a vehicle for developing characters rather than examining a poet’s own narrow life experiences.
“Patterns and Breaking: A Conversation with Eduardo Corral” by David Freeman (2020)
Originally appearing in the Michigan Quarterly Review and now available online, this interview focuses on Corral’s interest in the visual in his poetry as well as his belief in the power of language to exceed the boundaries and divisions in multicultural America. In addition, Corral speaks to his evolution as a poet, his dedication to painstaking, time-consuming revision, and his own advice to young poets about the sound of words.
“Ghosts and Anchors: Translingualism in Contemporary U.S. Poetry” by Piotr Gwiazda (2021)
Using “In Colorado” among other examples, the article traces how the fusion of English with other languages in poetry creates challenges and opportunities for the reader. Translingualism, the article shows, uses as its base the concept that multiple languages are incompatible but allows poetry to surpass such assumptions.
Listen to the Poem
Eduardo C. Corral reads “In Colorado My Father Scoured and Stacked Dishes”
Corral himself reads the poem at a 2014 literary festival. Corral opens with a brief explanation of what he calls “code-switching,” how the poem shifts freely between Spanish and English. Because Corral speaks Spanish, his reading offers a seamless presentation of the poem’s bilingual argument that, in turn, gives expression to the subtle music of his lines as they move between languages.
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