Salinas Sends Messengers to the Stars

Sir. You understand. I am poor.

I work from sunup to sundown.

Never mind what I do . . .

yet, I’ll tell:

I send messengers to the stars.

With all the trouble and madness

on this earth

I feel the stars to be

more human.

I think I’ll weave

blankets

and tell them

I love them so dearly. From “The Sadness of Days” by Luis Omar Salinas (Arte Publico Press, University of Houston, University Park, Houston, Tex. 77004: $8; 160 pp.). Salinas’ first book of poetry appeared in 1970. Since then, he has won several literary awards, including the Stanley Kunitz Award, and has published several more collections. “The Sadness of Days” includes 14 new poems as well as selections from his earlier works. 1987 Luis Omar Salinas, by permission.