Martin Espada Essay

              In Martin Espada poems “Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, May 3^rd, 1877” “The New Bathroom Policy at English High School” and “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson.” He talks about how power shifts, and how people can abuse power.

              The Poem “The New Bathroom Policy at English High School” is about how in the boys bathroom of a high school, some students were talking in spanish. The principal was in a stall and couldn't understand what they were saying. For example in the stanza of the poem Martin wrote “The only word he recognizes/ is his own name/ and this constipates him” also in the 3^rd stanza he says “ So he decides/ to ban Spanish/ in the bathrooms/ Now he can relax.” Both of these quotes show how the principal was so fast to judge something he or she doesn't know. This can also show how he or she is somewhat scared of something that they don't know about, and that he was scared of losing power to the students.

            “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson” is about how Martin Espada feels when people mispronounce his name, and what he wants to do about it. For example in the 8-12 stanza “... republican tourists/ from wisconsin,/ force them to chant/ anti-American slogans/ in Spanish,” This shows how he craves power, and wants everyone to “bow down” to him. Also when the poem says “... bilingual SWAT team/ to helicopter overhead,/ begging me/ to be reasonable.” This shows how he wants people already in power, to look up to him. This poem also shows how power can corrupt people.

             The Poem “Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, May 3^rd, 1877” is about the white people were hurting/killing the Mexicanos and were celebrating. In the 2^nd stanza it says “... forty gringo vigilantes/ cheered the rope/ that snapped the two Mexicanos” This shows how they were cheering and celebrating while hurting the Mexicanos. Later on in the poem it says how they all crowded together and took a photograph. This makes the gringos look like the all powerful, and the Mexicanos look weak.

          In conclusion all 3 of these poems talk about different aspects of power. How people can be affected by power. For example with a famous quote “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Power can take over someone and make them go crazy, whether its the power of one person or a group of people.