The Raven Chronicles – Number 11

“What a lie a map is,” a character declares in Michael Daley’s near-epic poem. Indeed, how do drawn boundaries account for the diversity of cultures in the world, especially those transplanted from their homes? This “Speaking in Tongues” issue of The Raven Chronicles offers the best symposium for answering.

“What a lie a map is,” a character declares in Michael Daley’s near-epic poem. Indeed, how do drawn boundaries account for the diversity of cultures in the world, especially those transplanted from their homes? This “Speaking in Tongues” issue of The Raven Chronicles offers the best symposium for answering. The accounts are from ordinary voices, and their authenticity makes them extraordinary. Immigration, Diaspora, reunion, or curiosity: all form a tie between or among cultures. Daniel A. Olivas’ essay, which really epitomizes the magazine, studies the concept of Pocho, or a fully Americanized Mexican, of which Olivas is one, in an informal, candid, yet professional style. Besides Spanish, there are French, Portuguese, Irish, and Chinese translations—and not just into English, but from it. And why stay contemporary? Mike Farman’s translation of Jiang Kui, a Song Dynasty poet, probably loses a lot of the original, but few will find the sentiment foreign or obsolete. “Mandarin ducks / should sleep in pairs, / why does this one pass the nights alone? / See her become a wisp of cloud, / drifting westward / to her lover’s bedroom.” The casual Chronicles reader won’t always recognize the foreign concepts in discussion, but a little research and inference goes a long way. And then there’s “Teacup and Cookie,” Michael Daley’s poem following the excursion of a bi-cultural couple in a complex Eastern Europe. It may require Mensa membership to get all the references, but not to appreciate its strange, gothic nature. [The Raven Chronicles, Richard Hugo House, 1634 Eleventh Avenue, Seattle WA 98122-2419. Single issue $6.50. www.ravenchronicles.org] —Christopher Mote