I am Joaquin

“I am Joaquin” by Gonzales is a poem mostly about having a bloody revolution to take back what belongs to him. He speaks about this through a tone similar to speaking and wraps it around with metaphors, repetitions, and similes. Throughout he keeps on mentioning he is a bunch of certain people who all have one thing in common; they are part of a whole society.

This poem is free verse with repetitions. An example would be when he repeated the beginning in Spanish and then translated it into English. It also contained similes such as “like a sleeping giant” although this poem sometimes sounds like an angry rant in form of a speech. Throughout the poem some sentences are in caps lock so as I read he is screaming in my head “MY OWN PEOPLE...THE GROUND WAS MINE” making the reader realize his imprisonment. Sometimes the tone changes into a passive and melancholic voice when he said “And see part of me who rejects my father and my mother and dissolves into the melting pot to disappear in shame.” Then at times the patriotic voice bursts out in lines such as “I am Cuauhtemoc, proud and noble, leader of men, kind of an empire.” At other moments the poem gets dramatic which can be seen when Gonzales said “I drove him from the pulpit to lead a bloody revolution for him and me.... I killed him.” A lot of imagery that opens up the senses can be read in quotes like “Now I bleed in some smelly cell from club or gun or tyranny.” What I noticed is he talked more in the beginning, then starts to use many different kinds of images near the end. The metaphors that were used made strong statements to his beliefs, he said “I am the sword and flame of Cortes the despot. And I am the eagle and serpent of the Aztec civilization.” The rhythm is normal speed but then at times he goes fast when in the heat of passion. Most of the exclamations he used are centered around people from his culture or the languages of Mexico.

What I noticed is that the author keeps repeating that “I am Joaquin” but then in the middle of the poem he said he is Cuauhtemoc, an Aztec ruler or Nezhualcoyotl, a warrior or philosopher. Then he said he is Diaz and Huerta who were controversial dictators but then he is also “the black- shawled faithful women.” It seems as if it doesn't matter what one does, whether they're a defenseless peasant, politician, psychopath dictator, or killing 100 people for every family member killed, all of these different kinds of people have their place in society. A society would not exist without them. Since this is a poem for the country he said he is all these people to be the spokesperson for everyone. He's the poet who notices what is going on and is taking a breather to put every piece of history, thought and observation together to unify Mexico.

Question- If he was a dictator instead of a poet, how would things change for the society?