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The Smallest Muscle in the Human Body
Alberto RÃos explains the world not through reason but magic. These poems—set in a town that straddles Mexico and Arizona—are lyric adventures, crossing two and three boundaries as easily as one, between cultures, between languages, between senses. Drawing upon fable, parable, and family legend, RÃos utilizes the intense and supple imagination of childhood to find and preserve history beyond facts: plastic lemons turning into baseballs, a grandmother’s long hair reaching up to save her life, the painted faith jumpers leaping to the earth and crowd below. This is magical realism at its shimmering best. The smallest muscle in the human body is in the ear.
It is also the only muscle that does not have blood vessels; It has fluid instead. The reason for this is clear:
The ear is so sensitive that the body, if it heard its own pulse, Would be devastated by the amplification of its own sound.
In this knowledge I sense a great metaphor, But I do not want to be hasty in trying to capture or describe it.
Words are our weakest hold on the world. —from "Some Extensions of the Sovereignty of Science" "RÃos is onto something new in his poetry—in the way that the real poets of any time always are."â€�American Book Review Alberto RÃos teaches at Arizona State and is the author of eight books of poetry, three collections of short stories, and a memoir about growing up on the Mexican border. He is the recipient of numerous awards and his work is included in over 175 national and international literary anthologies. His work is regularly taught and translated, and has been adapted to dance and both classical and popular music.
It is also the only muscle that does not have blood vessels; It has fluid instead. The reason for this is clear:
The ear is so sensitive that the body, if it heard its own pulse, Would be devastated by the amplification of its own sound.
In this knowledge I sense a great metaphor, But I do not want to be hasty in trying to capture or describe it.
Words are our weakest hold on the world. —from "Some Extensions of the Sovereignty of Science" "RÃos is onto something new in his poetry—in the way that the real poets of any time always are."â€�American Book Review Alberto RÃos teaches at Arizona State and is the author of eight books of poetry, three collections of short stories, and a memoir about growing up on the Mexican border. He is the recipient of numerous awards and his work is included in over 175 national and international literary anthologies. His work is regularly taught and translated, and has been adapted to dance and both classical and popular music.
110 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2002
About the author
Alberto Alvaro RÃos
28Ìýbooks40ÌýfollowersIn 1952, Alberto Alvaro RÃos was born on the American side of the city of Nogales, Arizona, on the Mexican border. He received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Arizona in 1974 and a MFA in Creative Writing from the same institution in 1979.
He is the author of several collections of poetry, including Dangerous Shirt (Copper Canyon Press, 2009); The Theater of Night (2007); The Smallest Muscle in the Human Body (2002), which was nominated for the National Book Award; Teodora Luna's Two Kisses(1990); The Lime Orchard Woman (1988); Five Indiscretions (1985); and Whispering to Fool the Wind (1982), which won the 1981 Walt Whitman Award, selected by Donald Justice.
Other books by RÃos include Capirotada: A Nogales Memoir (University of New Mexico Press, 1999), The Curtain of Trees: Stories (1999), Pig Cookies and Other Stories (1995), and The Iguana Killer: Twelve Stories of the Heart (1984), which won the Western States Book Award.
RÃos's poetry has been set to music in a cantata by James DeMars called "Toto's Say," and on an EMI release, "Away from Home." He was also featured in the documentary Birthwrite: Growing Up Hispanic. His work has been included in more than ninety major national and international literary anthologies, including the Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry.
"Alberto RÃos is a poet of reverie and magical perception," wrote the judges of the 2002 National Book Awards, "and of the threshold between this world and the world just beyond."
He holds numerous awards, including six Pushcart Prizes in both poetry and fiction, the Arizona Governor's Arts Award and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Since 1994 he has been Regents Professor of English at Arizona State University, where he has taught since 1982. He lives in Chandler, Arizona.
He is the author of several collections of poetry, including Dangerous Shirt (Copper Canyon Press, 2009); The Theater of Night (2007); The Smallest Muscle in the Human Body (2002), which was nominated for the National Book Award; Teodora Luna's Two Kisses(1990); The Lime Orchard Woman (1988); Five Indiscretions (1985); and Whispering to Fool the Wind (1982), which won the 1981 Walt Whitman Award, selected by Donald Justice.
Other books by RÃos include Capirotada: A Nogales Memoir (University of New Mexico Press, 1999), The Curtain of Trees: Stories (1999), Pig Cookies and Other Stories (1995), and The Iguana Killer: Twelve Stories of the Heart (1984), which won the Western States Book Award.
RÃos's poetry has been set to music in a cantata by James DeMars called "Toto's Say," and on an EMI release, "Away from Home." He was also featured in the documentary Birthwrite: Growing Up Hispanic. His work has been included in more than ninety major national and international literary anthologies, including the Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry.
"Alberto RÃos is a poet of reverie and magical perception," wrote the judges of the 2002 National Book Awards, "and of the threshold between this world and the world just beyond."
He holds numerous awards, including six Pushcart Prizes in both poetry and fiction, the Arizona Governor's Arts Award and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Since 1994 he has been Regents Professor of English at Arizona State University, where he has taught since 1982. He lives in Chandler, Arizona.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 19 reviews
February 1, 2022
I liked the playfulness and surprise in these poems. RÃos writes about his experiences in a unique and engaging way.
March 25, 2016
I really enjoyed this book of poems. I call them poems because the structure was like poetry but they read more like prose. Rios, is a great storyteller with a delightful grasp of metaphor. I wrote down many of my favorite stanzas and pieces and there were two poems especially that I felt worthy of recitation, something I'd hoped to do before writing this but haven't gotten round to.
Here are few excerpts from some of my favorites:
Intro to and exerpt from "My Chili"
"The Santa Cruz valley lies a few miles north of the border between AZ and Sonora, MX and it is marked by the Mission of San Jose de Tumacacori founded by Jesuits in the 17th century. The chilis that come from there don't let you forget."
"...Chili: all the times
I have shouted at you...
something coming alive in my mouth.
So that my body had no choice
and like hair had to spit it out..."
excerpt from "In my Hurry"
"...there trees flowering was an intimacy I had not earned...
the tree itself seemingly an arm unleashed
strength itself gone wild in its parts
to the sky - this was an arm that had stopped me
How could I not have see it
this tree was an arm."
Excerpt from "the cities inside us"
"You and I, we are the secret citizens of the city
inside us, and inside us
there go all the cars we have driven and seen,
there go all the people we know and have known
there are all the places that are
but which used to be, as well"
Excerpt(1st stanza) from "oranges in a tree"
"the oranges in a tree won't fly away
if you're quiet. If you're quiet
you can see them in their nests
Loud in the song of their great need
mouths tethered to the green beaks
that feed them, hushing their cries
pushing their infant noises into color,
that unmistakeable sound, orange"
Here are few excerpts from some of my favorites:
Intro to and exerpt from "My Chili"
"The Santa Cruz valley lies a few miles north of the border between AZ and Sonora, MX and it is marked by the Mission of San Jose de Tumacacori founded by Jesuits in the 17th century. The chilis that come from there don't let you forget."
"...Chili: all the times
I have shouted at you...
something coming alive in my mouth.
So that my body had no choice
and like hair had to spit it out..."
excerpt from "In my Hurry"
"...there trees flowering was an intimacy I had not earned...
the tree itself seemingly an arm unleashed
strength itself gone wild in its parts
to the sky - this was an arm that had stopped me
How could I not have see it
this tree was an arm."
Excerpt from "the cities inside us"
"You and I, we are the secret citizens of the city
inside us, and inside us
there go all the cars we have driven and seen,
there go all the people we know and have known
there are all the places that are
but which used to be, as well"
Excerpt(1st stanza) from "oranges in a tree"
"the oranges in a tree won't fly away
if you're quiet. If you're quiet
you can see them in their nests
Loud in the song of their great need
mouths tethered to the green beaks
that feed them, hushing their cries
pushing their infant noises into color,
that unmistakeable sound, orange"
March 2, 2019
Excellent poetry book, full of deep narratives and storytelling.
December 7, 2009
3 1/2 stars really
January 26, 2011
If only for the first poem, "A Physics of Sudden Light," and this line: "You are not where you were/but you have not moved."
November 16, 2012
I truly enjoyed these poems which are primarily set in Nogales, Arizona straddling the Mexican-US border. There's a bit of magic and misdirection and a whole lot of truth.
February 14, 2019
"Alberto Rios is the man you want to sit next to when it is time to hear a story."
--Southwest BookViews
E.G.
The Lemon Kind of Baseball
(By Alberto Rios)
Even though I had a six-finger glove
I couldn’t stay in Little League
Because I didn’t have a ride home.
I played it anyway, a game of our own
That came to the hand
Naturally, in time, a friend
With a hundred names and a thousand rules,
Every summer different from the last
So that the game,
The game was new every time.
At home our game was lighter
And cheaper and tricks
We took a yellow plastic lemon,
The kind lemon juice comes in.
We stuffed it with rags.
With a match we melted
The open, sticking-out end flat, into a seal-
The way we later imagined dogs got fixed.
Our bats were piñata bats.
We swung them one-handed.
We had to, to be fast. You know how I mean,
The way a plastic lemon full of rags will drop,
Will fly and turn corners in the air
Better than a bird, almost.
There was the thing: the pitch,
The swing and the hit and the run and the air.
That was the thing, Tommy. I remember it
Right now, all of it together in my hands.
I know you do, too.
I know you’re out there in your life.
Remember when you were my brother every day?
Don’t worry, Tom. It’s funny calling you Tom.
Don’t worry, Tommy. We were good.
--Southwest BookViews
E.G.
The Lemon Kind of Baseball
(By Alberto Rios)
Even though I had a six-finger glove
I couldn’t stay in Little League
Because I didn’t have a ride home.
I played it anyway, a game of our own
That came to the hand
Naturally, in time, a friend
With a hundred names and a thousand rules,
Every summer different from the last
So that the game,
The game was new every time.
At home our game was lighter
And cheaper and tricks
We took a yellow plastic lemon,
The kind lemon juice comes in.
We stuffed it with rags.
With a match we melted
The open, sticking-out end flat, into a seal-
The way we later imagined dogs got fixed.
Our bats were piñata bats.
We swung them one-handed.
We had to, to be fast. You know how I mean,
The way a plastic lemon full of rags will drop,
Will fly and turn corners in the air
Better than a bird, almost.
There was the thing: the pitch,
The swing and the hit and the run and the air.
That was the thing, Tommy. I remember it
Right now, all of it together in my hands.
I know you do, too.
I know you’re out there in your life.
Remember when you were my brother every day?
Don’t worry, Tom. It’s funny calling you Tom.
Don’t worry, Tommy. We were good.
December 20, 2019
Here is what we did at the at the Arboretum Library of the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden on Tuesday, December 17, 2019
As we did with last December's poetry book, the group read their favorite poems from the book and we briefly discussed some of their challenges.
The titles we read were:
The Weekly Morning Meeting of the Town's Civic Band
Mr. Palomino Walks By Again
Los voladores de Papantla
Appointment Hours
Kid Hielero
In Second Grade Miss Lee I Promised Never to Forget You and I Never Did
The Cities Inside Us
What We've Done to Each Other
Oranges in a Tree
The Fall of the Bears
Chinese Food in the Fifties
A September Death
Some Extensions on the Sovereignty of Science
but not in that order....
Icebreaker: Do you have a story about any of the fruits on the cover of this book?
As we did with last December's poetry book, the group read their favorite poems from the book and we briefly discussed some of their challenges.
The titles we read were:
The Weekly Morning Meeting of the Town's Civic Band
Mr. Palomino Walks By Again
Los voladores de Papantla
Appointment Hours
Kid Hielero
In Second Grade Miss Lee I Promised Never to Forget You and I Never Did
The Cities Inside Us
What We've Done to Each Other
Oranges in a Tree
The Fall of the Bears
Chinese Food in the Fifties
A September Death
Some Extensions on the Sovereignty of Science
but not in that order....
Icebreaker: Do you have a story about any of the fruits on the cover of this book?
March 1, 2021
Beautiful yet often indicting observations about land, seasons, memories, heritage. I loved getting immersed in the mental maps and landscapes of Rios' imagery; much detail and histories are fit in the small frame of couplets. I do think he relies heavily on the same framing of ideas, both in structure and wording, and occasional poems don't resonate as strongly as others, due to lapsing almost to prosey descriptions or presenting pretty images not anchored in any substantial foundation. Still, on the whole, I found myself returning to more than a few poems in this collection, wanting more of the color and sound crafted in his lines. Won't be the last collection of his I read!
August 12, 2017
This is the first collection by Rios that I have read. I learned about him because he is coming to Oklahoma City as a guest poet in two years. One of his poems that helped my committee decide to choose him is in this collection: "Refugio's Hair."
Other standouts in this impressive book:
My Chili
What We've Done to Each Othe
Rabbits and Fire
Summers, about 1959
The Lemon Kind of Baseball
Holding My Shirts
Writing From Memory
Other standouts in this impressive book:
My Chili
What We've Done to Each Othe
Rabbits and Fire
Summers, about 1959
The Lemon Kind of Baseball
Holding My Shirts
Writing From Memory
February 26, 2022
I am very glad I read this collection of poems. It’s smart, thoughtful, interesting. His interest in the magic that I feel comes from his part of the world - captures the magic of all of our parts of the world. I love it!
August 20, 2019
Delighted with this find. I've read "Kid Hielero" to several captive audiences and will not think of watermelon in the same way again.
March 4, 2020
Sometimes 41/2 stars.
July 18, 2010
"Chili: First cousin to the ant bite," (40)
"To get away from the birds, the rain tries a mask: / It becomes snow, a show of wings, the flakes / Drunk moths in an aimless, cool wander." (68)
My favorite: the final poem, "Some Extensions on the Sovereignty of Science"
"To get away from the birds, the rain tries a mask: / It becomes snow, a show of wings, the flakes / Drunk moths in an aimless, cool wander." (68)
My favorite: the final poem, "Some Extensions on the Sovereignty of Science"
Displaying 1 - 14 of 19 reviews
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