Rooftop Poetry Club - Alberto O. Cappas

Alberto O. Cappas

Bio:

Alberto Oscar Cappas is a poet and entrepreneur in several diverse areas. He is the author of Never too late to make a U-Turn: An Educational Pledge & 15 Questions to Self-Development, a motivational book for parents and youth-at-risk; and author of The Pledge: A Guide for Everyday Living, published in 2001. He is also the author of the following poetry collections: Doña Julia & Other Selected Poems, Author House Publishers, 2002; Disintegration of the Puerto Ricans, Don Pedro Enterprises, 1997; and Echolalia, Carlton Press, 1989. His poetry has been included in many publications and anthologies in the United States and Canada. Cappas is the recipient of the “Keepers of Our Culture” Award for Literature, presented to him by the New York State Hispanic Heritage Month Committee -- on September 15, 1994. His works have achieved wide interests, growing appeal and numerous accolades. It should be noted that his work has been featured and preserved in the City of Buffalo’s new Metro subway system, with a commissioned work by the Niagara Frontier’s Transportation Authority of an artistic “vignette” with two other Latino artists. The work is a thirty-foot steel tile mural that reflects the search for a sense of belonging in this city. Also, his early works have been included in the renowned Schomburg Library’s archives. Alberto O. Cappas is an alumnus of the State University of New York at Buffalo and a recipient of the NYC Urban League’s Charles Evans Hughes Award for Creative Writing -- presented to him by Harlem Preparatory School in 1967.

Poems:

Her Borinquen

1
Doña Rivera
The one everybody comes to when
They run into unresolved situations
Was sold the Moon yesterday
She was very happy ‘cause the
Salesman gave her a break
Telling her she did not have to pay taxes on it
“It was tax free”
He told her
All her neighbors were surprised
That she accomplished such a big thing
So they assembled and celebrated
Her new fortune
They decided that Doña should
Keep it a secret or else the welfare department
Would come and take the Moon away from her
Time passed and Doña Rivera
Became a very proud woman
At night, especially when the
Moon was bright and in full view
Doña Rivera would stay up late
And admire the beauty of her new possession
On weekend nights
She would invite her relatives and best friends
Over to share the experience with them
“See”
She would tell her friends and relatives
"In this country
You have the freedom to buy
Anything you want"

DOÑA JULIA

2
Doña Julia
Committed suicide last night
Cause the welfare department
Demanded too many documents she did not
Know existed
The utilities were removed
The landlord proudly gave her eviction
Papers
The friendly bodega accused her
Of trespassing
Holding on to hope
Doña Julia visited Puerto Rican leaders
With fancy titles
Promising her things that never arrived
Doña Julia
Always made it a point to vote
With the democrats, the party of
The poor, she used to say
Doña Julia
Committed suicide last night cause life was angry with her
She told her spirits
And the people that didn’t
Know her always found things to say about her
With fancy titles
Her daughter Evelyn disappeared with this
Dude named Hector who promised her every thing he didn’t have
And her son Josè
Who dropped out of school at the age of 10
Always took money from Doña Julia
To pay his expenses and other things for the dead head
He too disappeared looking for his friends who were never around
When he didn’t have anything
Doña Julia
Committed suicide cause life was angry with her
Her dead face had a smile that police officers did not understand
Someone that did not know how to read found a note
And flushed it down the toilet thinking it had something
To do with the numbers
The note said something about
“One way or the other
I’m going back to the island”

Suicide of a Puerto Rican Jìbaro
(In Mainland Buffalo)

3
They didn’t understand.
They were all Americans now
He would smile sometimes
Thinking about his youth in Ponce
Carmen, Rosa, Teresa and Liza
Holding on to dreams
That helped him stay alive
The tropical music that was killed
By the new sound of "salsa"
But they didn’t understand
His children didn’t understand
A million times his body was raped
By the unfriendly cold
The farm he sacrificed
To pursue the American Dream
Trying to buy some dignity in the trade
Of the unemployment office
Shoveling the snow that invaded
His tropical existence
He would walk up Virginia Street
And down Hudson Street
Searching
For some clues of understanding
But
Only
Found
New inventions of nightmares
That wanted to destroy his dreams
The dead dreams
That helped him stay alive
Were too weak
For the American nightmare
They didn’t understand
They were
All Americans now