The Latin Deli: An Ars Poetica
Judith Ortiz Cofer
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Presiding over a formica counter, plastic Mother and Child magnetized to the top of an ancient register, the heady mix of smells from the open bins of dried codfish, the green plantains° hanging in stalks like votive offerings,° she is the Patroness of Exiles, a woman of no-age who was never pretty, who spends her days selling canned memories while listening to the Puerto Ricans complain that it would be cheaper to fly to San Juan than to buy a pound of Bustelo coffee here, and to Cubans perfecting their speech of a “glorious return” to Havana—where no one has been allowed to die and nothing to change until then; to Mexicans who pass through, talking lyrically of dólares to be made in El Norte— all wanting the comfort of spoken Spanish, to gaze upon the family portrait of her plain wide face, her ample bosom resting on her plump arms, her look of maternal interest as they speak to her and each other of their dreams and their disillusions— how she smiles understanding, when they walk down the narrow aisles of her store reading the labels of packages aloud, as if they were the names of lost lovers: Suspiros, Merengues, the stale candy of everyone’s childhood. She spends her days slicing jamón y queso and wrapping it in wax paper tied with string: plain ham and cheese that would cost less at the A&P, but it would not satisfy the hunger of the fragile old man lost in the folds of his winter coat, who brings her lists of items that he reads to her like poetry, or the others, whose needs she must divine, conjuring up products from places that now exist only in their hearts— closed ports she must trade with. |
Making Meanings
The Latin Deli: An Ars Poetica
1. What do you think of the woman who runs the deli? What does she do for her customers?
2. Describe in your own words the feelings of the customers in the deli.
3. Were you surprised that the proprietor of a deli and the things she sells could have so many important associations for the customers? Explain your answer.
4. The poem contains many sensory images. Identify at least one image each of sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch.
5. What concrete details help make this poem very specific—and rooted in a particular time and place?
6. Language is important to the deli’s customers. Review your Quickwrite notes, and discuss the various ways immigrants to this country might have a perspective on language and culture that is different from the perspective of Americans who have lived their whole lives here.
7. In ancient Rome, the poet Horace (65–8 B.C.) wrote a treatise called Ars Poetica, or The Art of Poetry, setting forth his own rules for writing poetry. Since Horace’s time, many poets have explored ideas about what makes a good poem. Why do you think Cofer subtitles her poem “An Ars Poetica”? In what sense might this poem reflect her ideas about what constitutes good poetry?