Rafael F. J. Alvarado has made poetry his home and community since he was a teenager. Some may remember his earlier days as an angry youth with a drinking problem. However, beneath the once angry veneer is a sober man in his mid forties who has built a life around poetry. His best friend and business partner, S. A. Griffin, says he first met a much younger Rafael who interrupted him on stage. Griffin told Rafael to shut up and listen and the rest resulted in a thirty-plus-year friendship and partnership of H.I.P. Hollywood Institute of Poetics.
Of his role as poetry promoter, Rafael says he got lucky. “Early on I started meeting all these great poets,” he said. “My whole thing is trying to bring people together and share ideas. I thank God that I get to talk to people who have influenced me.” In a recent interview with Margaret Randall on the World Wide Word Radio Network, one of his ten ongoing radio shows, he shares his deep respect for Randall’s work. Randall casually stated that she has been around for a long time and is not surprised that her poetic arm has reached out to so many. Rafael’s show, The Moe Green Discussion, has already featured such luminaries as Nikki Giovanni, Luis J. Rodriguez, Martín Espada, and Robert Pinksy, to name a few.
Rafael works for poets and poetry regardless of not making money. His discussion with Randall touched on his admiration for the non-commercialization of poetry. “Everything about poetry to me is beautiful,” he said when pressed to talk about his dedication to the art. He is proud of the fact he can lend a hand at well established poetry readings, such as Beyond Baroque, the World Stage, and Avenue 50 La Palabra, as well as start new venues himself, such as online radio shows, the reading series at Stories Books and La Paloma Room, and off-the-cuff venues such as the anniversary reading of Ginsberg’s, “Howl,” and a prison poetry panel he is taking to high schools. Also through his publishing venture, Noble Swine Press, he’s published two poets Corrie Greathouse and Michael O’Keefe. Noble Swine Press does not accept unsolicited manuscripts. He says he only publishes poets he likes.
The Hollywood native’s love for poetry is somewhat hard-wired and genetic. His granduncle, Luis Cardoza y Aragon, was a renowned Guatemalan poet and his grandmother, Laura Cardoza Muller, was also a published poet. When asked about his commitment to poetry, Rafael says he just likes learning.
“Everything should be growing. I learned to channel my anger into writing and promoting people. Shows make me feel good about myself. I’m putting something out there I respect.”
The radio shows are fun for Rafael because he learns about poets’ craft and he gets free books. His own poetry collection, A Thousand Unridden White Horses, is forthcoming from Mouthfeel Press (that is as soon as he dials back from promoting and finishes the manuscript).
In the meantime, catch Rafael’s numerous poetry interviews on the World Wide Word Radio Network. Tonight, March 18, Margaret Randal reads at Beyond Baroque with V. B. Price. Listen to Rafael's past radio show with Margaret Randall and catch some current and upcoming poetry shows. Also, forthcoming, the World Wide Word Radio Network’s 4-year anniversary reading, hosted by Rafael Alvarado and S.A. Griffin, a free event at Beyond Baroque, 681 Venice Blvd, at 4pm, Saturday, April 9.
A Thousand Unridden White Horses
by Rafael Francisco Jose Alvarado
for corrie
she wants prince charming
she is of a fairytale heart
how do I tell her
prince charming died in the sixties
the sex revolution
easy access
made men worse than they already were
so the few who had that right heart
never understood
what it is to care
for a woman
with an open heart
who doesn't want much
just honest eyes
that don't lie
there, are a thousand unridden white horses
waiting to be found
how do I to tell her
that sometimes men fall short
don't have the balls to love
passed lukewarm affection
when a woman dresses up to make you smile
and you don't notice
you don't deserve her touch
how do I say
Prince Charming is somewhere
inside a man
trying to grow up
Mil caballos blancos nunca jineteados
Rafael Francisco Jose Alvarado. Traducción de Alicia Partnoy
para corrie
Ella quiere al príncipe azul
ella de corazón de cuentos de hada
el príncipe azul se murió en los sesenta
revolución sexual
fácil acceso
que hizo al hombre peor de lo que era
y los pocos de recto corazón
nunca entendieron
cómo cuidar a una mujer
de corazón abierto
que no quiere mucho
más que ojos honestos
que no mientan
allí, mil caballos blancos nunca jineteados
ser hallados esperan
cómo le digo
que a veces los hombres se quedan cortos
que no tienen cojones para amar
más allá del tibio afecto
cuando la mujer se pone linda para tu sonrisa
y ni cuenta te das
no mereces que te toque
cómo le digo
que el Príncipe Azul
está en algún lugar
intentando crecer.
rafael has to be the hardest working person in poetry in el lay. la palabra at ave50 and that howl reading are, respectively, an ongoing pleasure, the other a lifetime's memory that i wish could become annual.
ReplyDeletemvs
If anything can be said of Rafael, it is that he is not a cynic. His directness and honesty make his an authentic voice in a town known for its love of guile and manipulation. A true asset to our community as an artist and facilitator.
ReplyDeleteIs this Poetry?
ReplyDeleteAll he knows to do is fuck married women
I look at her
take in the
woman
I married
I use
to look at the
women
I dated
for hours
to bury
something to memory
back then
I knew
I wasnt a keeper
I was
lost
just wanting
years I stop wanting
slept with married women
knowing
you cant get hurt
if your not going anywhere
now
whats different
I look at her
realize no more long looks for memory
just for me
now
like the morning now
her eyes closed
I wonder
when the road changed