100 Refutations: Day 12

Poisonous Poetry [Excerpt]

[…]

Thing is, my snakes gorged themselves on poison ivy
Nothing makes any sense if spoken in delirium
show’s over, send gifts of poisonous bouquets
poisonous poetry in the pores, I sweat poisonous poetry
nothing makes sense if spoken in delirium
show’s over, send gifts of poisonous bouquets
poisonous poetry in the pores, I sweat poisonous poetry
nothing makes sense if spoken in delirium
show’s over, send gifts.

[…]

To view the full music video, visit: https://youtu.be/K3YVlm3_tt8.

Bios

Rebeca Lane

Rebeca Eunice Vargas (Rebeca Lane) was born in Guatemala City in 1984. She's a prolific poet and musician heavily influenced by her experiences as a political and human rights activist. As a poet, Lane has been published in several magazines in Guatemala, Puerto Rico, and Mexico, and maintains a blog called Mujeres de bolsa grande y zapatos bajos. Lane’s poetry led her to spoken word, and through her work as a collaborator in Da-Radio (an online hip-hop radio station) she joined the hip-hop collective Última Dosis. In 2012, she began recording rap songs, singing with Última Dosis and as a soloist. In 2013, she began touring Central America and Mexico after the release of her EP Canto. Lane has performed at important music and art festivals throughout Latin America, as well as festivals, seminars, and theatrical events focused on human rights and feminism. She currently performs as a member of the theater and hip-hop crew that created La Eskina (2014), in which the cast uses graffiti, rap, and breakdancing to confront violence against youth in marginalized regions of Guatemala City. Lane is the founder of the movement Somos Guerreras, which strives to create a community of women within hip-hop culture that pushes back against inequality and sexism in the industry. She also runs rap workshops with women and young people, encouraging the use of poetry to express the struggles of the oppressed. In 2014, Lane won first place in the contest Proyecto L, which sought out music supporting freedom of speech, with the song "Cumbia de la Memoria." In this song, Lane discusses the genocide perpetrated by the military government during the war. For more information, please see:  http://www.rebecalane.com.

Lina M. Ferreira C.-V.

Lina M. Ferreira C.-V. earned MFAs in creative nonfiction writing and literary translation from The University of Iowa. She is the author of Drown Sever Sing from Anomalous Press and Don’t Come Back from Mad River Books, as well as editor, with Sarah Viren, of the forthcoming anthology Essaying the Americas. Her fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and translation work has been featured in journals including Bellingham ReviewChicago ReviewFourth GenreBrevityPoets & Writers, and The Sunday Rumpus, among others. She won Best of the Net and Iron Horse Review’s Discovered Voices Award, has been nominated for two Pushcart Prizes, and is a Rona Jaffe fellow. She moved from Colombia to China to Columbus, Ohio to Richmond, Virginia, where she works as an assistant professor for Virginia Commonwealth University. Visit www.linawritesessays.com.

Poesía Venenosa. Copyright (c) Rebeca Lane. English translation copyright (c) Lina M. Ferreira C.-V., 2018.