Concrete Pastures of the Beautiful Bronx

W R Rodriguez explores the beauty, wonder, and harsh reality of the urban environment. He has a strong poetic voice that uses irony and humor. He treats his subjects in a variety of styles: narratives, lyrics, long poems, and prose poems. Vivid and abundant imagery abound; the reader will get a sense of being there. In “my little red fire engine” he expands on the memory of childhood play to the observation of a tenement fire. The prose poem “democracy” tells the story of an ethnic fire cracker war on the Fourth of July. The long poem “roosevelt’s bust” gives a synopsis of Bronx history over four decades, from the Depression to the Kennedy assassination. The “saint mary’s park” sequence begins with his playing in the park and ends with a nostalgic look at his mother in her youth. His vision is unique; it transcends the stereotype many have about those who write about the inner city.