“I write more in terms of a mission and a plan than I do based on an inspiration,” he says. “I like history, and I like to contradict history, and unweave history, and imagine history. My themes have been about Caribbean history, the conquest, and the subsequent colonization, and the mixing of different ethnic groups that have gone down that make us as a people. I like to illuminate the bridges of history. The history of the indigenous elements. “
Cruz says people may think poetry is marginalized today, but he feels that is not the case.
“Poetry is the center of the present moment, more so than any other art,” he says. “It’s there, right now. It’s the center of the emotional life of a generation. And poetry is very political even it doesn’t say anything about any political situation, be it left or right. Writing and language is a social act.”
Cruz’s advice to aspiring poets is very simple: Do not be in a rush.
“Time and duration are the real teachers,” he says. “And there are certain things that come to you with time without your even being aware of it, and it becomes a part of you. Different little revelations that kind of guide you and direct you towards finding your own voice.”
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