18 pages • 36-minute read
Problems with Hurricanes
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Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
“Puerto Rico” by Victor Hernández Cruz (2017)
This poem juxtaposes Puerto Rico’s history and culture with three generations of Cruz’s family. In the poem, he reflects on his mother’s past, her triumphs, fears, loves, and other things like her cooking and singing. He reflects on his growing son, his first loves, and his embrace of culture. The poem bounces back and forth between English and Spanish, with Cruz referencing numerous Puerto Rican historical and artistic figures, as well as Puerto Rican foods, dances, and music. The poem concludes with a focus on the way the past fades away into the present.
“Latin & Soul” by Victor Hernández Cruz (2001)
This poem is dedicated to singer Joe Bataan, and demonstrates Cruz’s focus on irregular free verse structure—a direct influence from the Beat writers he read in his youth. The poem focuses on music and attempts to replicate the movement of the music through its enjambment, lack of punctuation, and pacing. The poem also embodies some surreal imagery, also echoing Cruz’s Beat influences. The poem is useful for seeing how varied Cruz’s writing can be: For example, this poem contains no Spanish, humor, or irony, yet the imagery and tangible sensory details still dominate the lines.
“Red Beans” by Victor Hernández Cruz (1991)
This metaphorical poem, written 500 years after Columbus arrived in the Caribbean, uses the imagery of red beans and rice to comment on the arrival of Europeans in America and the subsequent Mestizo culture that resulted from that. Cruz compares red beans to white rice, and by mixing the two foods, he creates a metaphor that represents the mixing of the “white” Spanish with the “red” Indigenous peoples. Cruz finds beauty in this mixture, though he does use diction that recognizes the violence that came as a result of these two cultures meeting. The poem demonstrates the complex history of subjugation, violence, and terror committed by conquistadors, but it also speaks to the beauty of the Mestizo culture that exists today.
Further Literary Resources
“Cruz, Victor Hernández 1949-” by Encyclopedia.com (2023)
This source is divided into two parts. The first part provides biographical and literary information about Cruz, which can serve as a valuable introduction for readers. The second part is a lengthy essay by Cruz about his own life. The essay is written in poetic prose, covering Cruz’s experiences, travels, influences, and writing from his childhood all the way to the 2000s. In his narrative, Cruz showcases his talent for sensory imagery as he describes various scenes from his life in New York City, San Francisco, and Puerto Rico. He discusses his relationship with his father, his appreciation for the different cultures he grew up in, his poetic influences, and his thought process for the poems he wrote in his various books. The article provides a useful look into Cruz’s life and work, and it is highly recommended to better understand both Cruz and the Nuyorican movement.
“A Brief Guide to Nuyorican Poetry” by Poets.org (2017)
This short article provides a basic history of the Nuyorican poetry movement. The article covers the historical origins, influences, and major poets involved in the movement. It includes a brief discussion of the modern influence of the movement on the New York City poetry scene as well as on slam poetry. The article notes several seminal works of the movement for further study and analysis.
“Puertorriqueños de Estados Unidos: Identity, Arts, and Culture” by Stephanie Hall (2021)
This short article provides some history of Puerto Ricans in America with a specific focus on arts and music. The article incorporates various images, audio recordings, and videos of speeches, music, and dances. The article can be helpful when trying to understand some of the cultural influences that may have inspired Cruz during his childhood and subsequent writing career.
Listen to Poem
Victor Hernández Cruz reads “Problems with Hurricanes” by Victor Hernández Cruz
With a poet like Cruz, it is helpful to listen to how he reads the poem with his Spanglish cadence and pronunciation with his Puerto Rican accent. In this reading, he does not read the poem exactly as it is written—this is typical of poets influenced by the Beat poets, as the performance is almost as important as the written text.
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