The poem is an homage to the Puerto Rican jíbaro, the hard working peasant who has become a symbol of resilience and connection to the land. The dedication to Piri Thomas and Tato Laviera, two highly influential Puerto Rican writers, highlights this connection, Thomas’ Down These Mean Streets and Laviera’s The Carreta Made a U Turn are seminal works which deal with the struggles of transplanted Puerto Ricans in New York City. “El Jibaro Calls” emphasizes this displacement and urges the poem’s subject to return to an idyllic state that the jíbaro symbolizes.

Eduardo R. del Rio was born in Havana, Cuba, and grew up in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He is the author of CubaRican, a bilingual book of poems and stories by Mouthfeel Press, and The Lost Train and Other Stories is forthcoming this fall from FlowerSong Press. He lives in Brownsville, TX.

W: eduardordelrio.com
I: @delriowriter