Dear Crispin,
by Luis Humberto Valadez

                             
    
    In response to your query “I Am a Victim of a Traditional Class”:
    
    You are a joy to be around. I don’t want you to as I am.
    
    As I am is the tradition of not making yourself in front of others or it is the tradition 
    of making yourself only in front of others.
    
    English is victimizing so many of our aims. Our aims are only as strong as the doors 
    they can penetrate.
    
    I hear, from you, father and mother do not see a victim who takes many 
    examinations for class distinctions that are solid lines not bending like the radicals 
    of your name
    
    You hear, from me, your dream is like afternoon rest that is not tradition where I 
    come from, like the values that guide you to sneak away from your parents’ class to 
    English. 
    
    Class time will be given for you to write on very thin paper, spelling your name without radicals 
    tightly pulled back like a hood on my head during our winter 
    classes
    
    I notice you never wear one. Have you learned how to accept the cold? 
    
    								Sincerely, 
    
    								Luis
     
    
    
Packingtown Review – Vol.7, Winter 2015/2016

Luis Humberto Valadez is the author of what i’m on (2009, University of Arizona Press) and Valid Lush (2012, Plumberries Press). Hailing from Chicago Heights, IL, Valadez worked as a teacher and in social services in Chicago before becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer posted in the People’s Republic of China from 2012-2014, an experience his more recent work draws from. More of his work can be found at luishv.bandcamp.com.

  1. Luis Humberto Valadez
    Dear Mabelpoetry