Are you ready for the poetic revolution? It's here

visit www.guaranapoet.com and taste the truth...

"In Guaraná Poet: The Taste of Truth, Daniel José Custódio makes a passionate and elegant plea for a revolution of words, spirit, and action. In his first book of poetry, Custódio has crafted a soul-wrenching, indictment of racist capitalism in the United States, and its effects on the hearts, minds and bodies of Latinos, young and old. Custódio tells us that “the Revolution starts with just one word,” inviting the reader to rediscover the political in the poetic, placing himself in the tradition of other Latino writer/warriors such as Pedro Pietri, Miguel Algarín, Miguel Piñero and Ricardo Sánchez. Custodio offers his poetry as a corrective lens for a society that lives in the “blur,” urging the reader to understand the connections between what we see, what we know, and what we do. Believing that poetry can be a political tool against oppression, Custódio asks us to use our ancestral memories to bring transformation and healing in today’s world. From “Intelligent Favela” to “Eu Sou” to “Avalanche” to “Budista en el barrio” to “Guaraná,” Custodio produces a poetic mestizaje where English, Spanish and Portuguese verses pay homage to the multicultural, multilingual realities of the United States. The greatest achievement of the book, alongside its rich but devastating imagery of life in North American ghettos, is Custodio’s constant reminder to us that another world is possible, and that the way to get there is through the truth. Custódio’s poetry is salvation, inspiration, truth, healing, and weapon against the oppressors. This book will appeal to people of all ages and races who strive for truth, justice and love, and who believe that poetry has a function beyond the beauty of words. But Guaraná Poet will especially appeal to those who bear the burden of the racist politics of American everyday life, those “whose hunger pays” for the comfort of those with full stomachs. If you’re hungry, if you’re hungry for revolution, Guanará Poet is for you."

Susan Sánchez Casal, Ph.D/
Associate Professor of Latino and Women’s Studies
Founder and Director, Intercultural Womyn’s Empowerment Series (ICWES)
Hamilton College
Clinton, NY