Dream of the Bird Tattoo
Dream of the Bird Tattoo
Poems and Sueñitos
In this brilliantly rendered collection—the author’s fourth—Juan J. Morales explores love and grief after the death of his father. Morales weaves his father’s personality, his childhood in Puerto Rico, and his service in the US military with his own interest in life after death. In these poems he guides the reader through ghost hunts, conversations with mediums, a series of dreams in which he and his father work through his father’s crossing over together, and his ultimate acceptance of this monumental loss. Dream of the Bird Tattoo beautifully showcases how our loved ones continue to live on in our memories and actions.
With Dream of the Bird Tattoo, Juan J. Morales has created a stunning memoir-in-poems about his father’s death and the grief that follows. This collection is honest, powerful, and heartbreaking.’—Sean Prentiss, author of Crosscut: Poems
Juan J. Morales is an assistant professor of English at Colorado College. He is the author of three other books of poetry, including The Handyman’s Guide to End Times: Poems (UNM Press). He lives in Pueblo, Colorado.
Of Avocados
Life Support
My Father’s Blasphemy, or Excerpt from Shit My Puerto Rican Father Said
Dream of the Space Tattoo
Lost Photo of Pop Holding an Anaconda
My Father’s War Medals
Excerpt from Shit My Puerto Rican Father Said
The Waves, or Las Olas
Dream of the Rising Sea
Teaching Me to Shoot Pool
The Fifth Commandment
The Lighthouse Dream
“Puerto Rico Goes Dark”
Dogma
Dream of the Wolf
Excerpt from Shit My Puerto Rican Father Said
“Are You Sure This Isn’t You?”
Dream of the Old Antique Shop
The Saddest Song
My Father Looking at Bruegel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus
Nightmare of a Bear
My Papa’s Morning Walks
Death Jokes
Visiting Your Grave
The Veil, or Dad Checks in with Another Dream
Destiny
Every Last Supper
El Chupacabra Visits Chicago
Dream of Hungry Crabs
Excerpt from Shit My Puerto Rican Father Said
Dream of the Ladybugs
The Medium Speaks of Birds
The House of Bees
The Migratory Patterns of Chupacabras
Dream of the Sun Spirit
Grandpa Money
Inside My Black Sugar Skull Notebook
Dream of Synchronicity
One Year Later
Excerpt from Shit My Puerto Rican Father Said
My Mother’s Dreams
Actualization Principle
Looking for Duende
Dream of the Mummy
Excerpt from Shit My Puerto Rican Father Said
Magpies, Building a Nest
Boricua Economics
Excerpt from Shit from My Puerto Rican Father Said
Bury Me in a Guayabera
Dad Watching Jackass
“20,000 Pallets of Bottled Water Left Untouched in Storm-Ravaged Puerto Rico”
Dream of the Widow
Excerpt from Shit from My Puerto Rican Father Said
Dear Mama
Dream of the Magic Coat
Dream of the Devil on Instant Messenger
Aubade
If the Octopus Dreams
Life Is a Dream, Then You Wake Up
Excerpt from Shit from My Puerto Rican Father Said
Veterans Day Weekend
Commendations
Dream of the Flooded Bathroom
Of Deer, or Los Venados
Dream of Acceptance
Excerpt from Shit from My Puerto Rican Father Said
Dream of the Bird Tattoo
Acknowledgments
