Yes, We Are.
Review: Rey M. Rodríguez. Todos Somos Sagrados All Are Sacred. Translated by Javier H. Morrone and Rey M. Rodríguez. Preface written by Father Gregory Boyle. Los Angeles: El Martillo Press, 2026.
ISBN: 979-8-2957-9055-3
Michael Sedano
Rey M Rodriguez’ supplement to his MFA thesis (a novel), Todos Somos Sagrados All Are Sacred, arrives as the poet’s tribute, accolade, and IOU to women of Dolores Catholic mission for showing him “the need for radical love, kindness, tenderness, forgiveness, and joy to mend a wounded world.”
Dolores Mission, Rodriguez’ inspiration, hits people right between the brain and heart. In her preface, the Mission Directora writes of her first visit:
“¡Mi corazón y mi mente no
podían comprender lo que veían mis ojos! ¿Una iglesia que permitía
que hombres sin hogar dirigieran una misa para toda la comunidad?
Todos eran iguales, todos pertenecían. Supe en mi corazón que
necesitaba ser parte de esta comunidad sagrada.
“I remember
seeing mujeres, the giants of our community, talking and praying,
and the men of the Guadalupe Homeless Project leading the
evening service. I was impresionada. My heart and mind couldn’t
make sense of what my eyes were seeing! A church allowing
homeless men to lead a mass for the entire community? Everyone
was the same, everyone belonged. I knew in my heart that I needed
to be part of this sacred community.”
The book comes from a special place, geographically, in Los Angeles' Boyle Heights community, and spiritually, in the hand of the poet, and in the eyes and feelings of his readers, all of these and what readers bring to any poem.
When I approach a poetry collection my first readings are its poems. Skipping through prefatory matter, first I’ll riffle the pages stopping when a provocative title flits past, or read a poem at random. This practice introduces the DEI quotient of the writer’s breadth, and the book-at-a-glance riffle informs the poet’s sense of order and use of elements such as white space, indents, justification, concrete poetry.
I read the final poem next on the basis this is the last thing the book wants me to think about and experience, it's the culmination of the journey. This last impression forms the basis of future engagements. I consider what I’ve exposed myself to and decide if this stuff is for me. Usually it is, so I go through prefaces then I read the pages cover to cover and arrive at that final poem. I may read it a second time, or just go through to find my favorites.
The first at random piece to catch my eye is page 125/124 of this 166/167 page collection. Todos Somos Sagrados All Are Sacred presents facing-page translation. I read this poem first in English, on the right hand side. The left hand page shares a Spanish translation of “Nunca se trató de mí” “It Was Never About Me.”
An opening stanza has mystery, is he being fired off a job?
“Sitting at the back of the room
waiting to see if I would be let go
Some wanted me to leave”
“Sentado al fondo de la sala
esperando a ver si me despedían
Algunos querían que me fuera”
But he’s not worried about losing paid employment. His concern is joining a women’s group. The “it” is maybe fear this man is an infiltrator; maybe this man is here for other nefarious end; for sure he’s a he. Whatever this unspoken “it”, he’s a focus of some unseen adversary as the following stanza discloses:
“Estábamos ayudando a demasiados hombres sin hogar
por eso la iglesia olía mal
Estábamos ayudando a demasiados pandilleros
por eso algunos se sentían inseguros
Estábamos ayudando a demasiados inmigrantes
por eso nos llamaban la iglesia de los mojados
We were helping too many homeless men
so the church smelled
We were helping too many gang members
so some felt unsafe
We were helping too many immigrants
so they called us the church of wetbacks”
“Pero nunca se trató de mí”
“But, it was never about me”
They let him stay, at the end of the poem. And as “Nunca se trató de mí” “It Was Never About Me” ends, the facing page translation offers a richness not appreciated without reading both sides of the page:
“Nunca se trató de mí
entonces las madres me dejaron quedar.”
“It was never about me
so the women let me stay.”
Mothers, mujeres, women, madres. For the translator, the poet’s choice of “women” doesn’t carry the weight of whom the opening poem, indeed the entire collection, speaks. Yes, these are women. Nurturing, giving hope light and life in places where those are rarely felt. Madres do that.
This randomly chosen first impression satisfies some itches. First, the poem, entonces the collection, celebrates good people doing needful work, the poet seeks soulful connections with readers. Second, the words are constructive, pro- not anti-, reasoned not whiny. Third, the work reads fluidly on both sides of the double truck. Fourth, some of these topics are interesting on their own, e.g. Rodriguez' love poem, and for their context in the religio-political nexus, such as the title poem, inverted as a question, "¿Son todos sagrados?/Are All Sacred?"
Now I read the book’s last poem, “Una comunidad con tanto que enseñar al
Mundo”. It’s an anthem of Peoplehood, gente declaring themselves human and equal.
“No matter what we do, that is what they think wrongly of us.
We work, we strive, and we dream like any person.
We are not the monsters, criminals, and vermin that they say we
are.
We are proud, we work hard, we dream big. We will never give up.
“Realizing that we hate the word, “lazy.”
That’s all people call us.
No matter what we do, that is what they think wrongly of us.
We work, we strive, and we dream like any person.”
“Y hagamos lo que hagamos, eso es lo que piensan erróneamente de nosotros.
Trabajamos, nos esforzamos y soñamos como cualquier otra persona.
No somos los monstruos y parásitos que la gente dice que somos.
Somos soñadores orgullosos y trabajadores que nunca se rendirán, a
pesar del odio.
The stanza reaches for an ultimatum, a battle protreptic, an action step in standard persuasive argument, to an audience of supporters. What are we doing about this? The poem’s not about changing minds but finding a level perception ground, a laissez-faire actitud toward "they":
“Pero algún día tendrán que aprender que juntos somos el futuro, sin
otra opción que descubrir que nosotros mismos somos más que
suficientes.”
“But one day, they must learn that together, we are the future, with
no other option but to discover our whole selves is more than
enough.”
Todos Somos Sagrados All Are Sacred closes on this hopeful note. This is the author’s definition of sacred, Sagrado: enterados de nuestra igualidad; informed of our equality. A reader’s take-away will place this philosophy in context of a working mission in urban Los Angeles. Proyecto Pastoral at Dolores Mission. Not only did las madres allow him to stay, he sat the Board of Directors for thirty years, growing from an idealistic young man to an idealistic husband, father, and optimist who closes his poetry with a small essay of notes & acknowledgements:
“The people of Proyecto Pastoral have much to teach the
world about love. It is my intention by detailing some of the people
and stories that their work will be honored and their teaching will
be preserved so that we may all learn from their example.”
Todos Somos Sagrados All Are Sacred comes from California small press publisher, El Martillo Press. To purchase copies, order from your local indie bookseller, Libromobile (link), or visit the publisher’s website, elmartillopress.com .
If we are all sacred
We choose peace over violence
Joy over envy
Reciprocity over selfishness
Kindness over cruelty
Solidarity over division
Humane acts versus inhumane ones
Harmony over chaos
Balance over imbalance
Love over hate
We need each other. Nothing separates us. We are
interconnected.
All are sacred.
(excerpt, ¿Son todos sagrados?/Are All Sacred? )
