Went to hear the 21st US Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera read at the Library of Congress

This post may not be as polished as I wished it to be, written the day after the event and in the midst of the frenzy of the Split This Rock 2016 National Poetry Festival, in the middle of a working week.

However, here just some preliminary summary comments:

• US Poet Laureate. What's so special about them? The US Poet Laureate is the official Poet Consultant to the Library for a term, usually 1 year, but if more work needs to be done the term can be renewed for another year. Juan Felipe Herrera's term was renewed, as announced last night. Each US Poet Laureate has a specific project/mandate for his/her term. 
• Juan Felipe Herrera's project goes by the theme/title of Flor y Canto, Flower and Song, and documents the Flower and Song Chicano/Chicana Movement starting in the 60s, when many explored their diverse identities and claimed their rights. It was fascinating to learn that some poets went all the way back to the Aztec language and even older cave drawings to find more insights into their identity.
• As Juan Felipe Herrera introduced to the larger public several members of his cohort and ended with the comment, "dead now," I could not help but recall the words of the older Asian American poet, David Mura, well-respected by my own generation of emerging Southeast Asian poets in MN. He candidly shared with us that he was neither the most brilliant nor the most passionate of his generation, but he was the one who kept on going and kept on writing, in the end, the last one standing.
• Is Fresno the US Capitol of Poetry, as claimed by Juan Felipe Herrera, proud Fresno resident? That should be the subject of a new post. :)
• After the event, as I stepped out of the Library of Congress into the magnificent sight of the US Capital blazing in the spring night under the stars, I savored the opening and closing poetic lines of Francisco X. Alerçon, now deceased, selected by the US Poet Laureate: "Each star, a firefly dreaming the Cosmos." Each poet, shedding light on the mysteries of our lives