{"id":712,"date":"2024-02-20T14:06:59","date_gmt":"2024-02-20T20:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rainmountainpress.com\/wordpress\/?post_type=product&#038;p=712"},"modified":"2025-09-05T12:18:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T17:18:15","slug":"a-blanquito-in-el-barrio","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/rainmountainpress.com\/wordpress\/product\/a-blanquito-in-el-barrio","title":{"rendered":"A Blanquito In El Barrio"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>by Gil Fagiani<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<style>\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t#tab_container_711 {\r\n\toverflow:hidden;\r\n\tdisplay:block;\r\n\twidth:100%;\r\n\tborder:0px solid #ddd;\r\n\tmargin-bottom:30px;\r\n\t}\r\n\r\n#tab_container_711 .tab-content{\r\n\tpadding:20px;\r\n\tborder: 1px solid #e6e2cc !important;\r\n\tmargin-top: 0px;\r\n\tbackground-color:#fffbe5 !important;\r\n\tcolor: #000000 !important;\r\n\tfont-size:16px !important;\r\n\tfont-family: Open Sans !important;\r\n\t\r\n\t\tborder: 1px solid #e6e2cc !important;\r\n\t}\r\n#tab_container_711 .wpsm_nav-tabs {\r\n    border-bottom: 0px solid #ddd;\r\n}\r\n#tab_container_711 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li.active > a, #tab_container_711 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li.active > a:hover, #tab_container_711 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li.active > a:focus {\r\n\tcolor: #000000 !important;\r\n\tcursor: default;\r\n\tbackground-color: #fffbe5 !important;\r\n\tborder: 1px solid #e6e2cc !important;\r\n}\r\n\r\n#tab_container_711 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li > a {\r\n    margin-right: 0px !important; 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\r\n}\r\n\r\n\r\n#tab_container_711 .tab-content{\r\noverflow:hidden !important;\r\n}\r\n\r\n\r\n@media (min-width: 769px) {\r\n\r\n\t#tab_container_711 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li{\r\n\t\tfloat:left !important ;\r\n\t\t\t\tmargin-right:-1px !important;\r\n\t\t\t\t\t}\r\n\t#tab_container_711 .wpsm_nav-tabs{\r\n\t\tfloat:none !important;\r\n\t\tmargin:0px !important;\r\n\t}\r\n\r\n\t#tab_container_711 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li {\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t}\r\n\t#tab_container_711 .wpsm_nav{\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\r\n}\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n@media (max-width: 768px) {\r\n\t#tab_container_711 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li {\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t}\r\n\t#tab_container_711 .wpsm_nav{\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n}\r\n\r\n\r\n\t.wpsm_nav-tabs li:before{\r\n\t\tdisplay:none !important;\r\n\t}\r\n\r\n\t@media (max-width: 768px) {\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t.wpsm_nav-tabs{\r\n\t\t\tmargin-left:0px !important;\r\n\t\t\tmargin-right:0px !important; \r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t}\r\n\t\t\t\t#tab_container_711 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li{\r\n\t\t\tfloat:none !important;\r\n\t\t}\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t}\t\t\t\t<\/style>\r\n\t\t\t\t<div id=\"tab_container_711\" >\r\n\t \r\n\t\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"wpsm_nav wpsm_nav-tabs\" role=\"tablist\" id=\"myTab_711\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li role=\"presentation\"  class=\"active\"  onclick=\"do_resize()\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"#tabs_desc_711_1\" aria-controls=\"tabs_desc_711_1\" role=\"tab\" data-toggle=\"tab\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Overview<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li role=\"presentation\"  onclick=\"do_resize()\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"#tabs_desc_711_2\" aria-controls=\"tabs_desc_711_2\" role=\"tab\" data-toggle=\"tab\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Excerpts<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/ul>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t\t  <!-- Tab panes -->\r\n\t\t\t\t\t  <div class=\"tab-content\" id=\"tab-content_711\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div role=\"tabpanel\" class=\"tab-pane  in active \" id=\"tabs_desc_711_1\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"sm_text\" style=\"text-align: left\">\"Out of the squishy swamp of dead personal lyrics that is contemporary American poetry, Gil Fagiani\u2019s hard-boned zombies rise out of his poetry collection, <em>A Blanquito in El Barrio<\/em>. His poems of a white junkie in East Harlem are crafty narratives that sing the music of sex, compassion, friendship, justice, mercy, comedy, betrayal, dope and more dope. Fagiani is a poet of unusual power. These poems have strong heart and deep soul.\u00a0<em>A Blanquito in El Barrio<\/em> is that rare good thing--a necessary good book.\"<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: right\">\u2014Angelo Verga, author of\u00a0<em>A Hurricane Is, 33 NYC Poems,\u00a0<\/em>and<em>\u00a0Praise For What Remains<\/em><\/p>\r\n<p class=\"sm_text\" style=\"text-align: left\">\"In <em>A Blanquito in El Barrio<\/em>, Gil Fagiani tells stories, horrifying tales of heroin addiction, rendered unsparingly and stark, in unflinching poetic lines. It\u2019s a story of addiction, rehabilitation, and redemption, peopled with desperate, decimated, and unforgettable characters, whose tragic lives he never condemns, but uplifts and honors with tough, vivid verses, set to the pulsing rhythms of Latin dance halls.\"<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: right\">\u2014Steve Zeitlin, Founding Director, City Lore: The New York Center for Urban Folk Culture<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"sm_text\" style=\"text-align: left\">\"Gil Fagiani writes of his love for Spanish Harlem during the late 1960s and his profound connection to its residents. His affection for Latino culture rings out in poems that pay homage to such great musicians as Ray Barretto, Tito Puente, La Lupe, and Arsenio Rodriguez. This is an honest, gripping and deeply personal collection.\"<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: right\">\u2014Nicholasa Mohr, lives in East Harlem and is the author of\u00a0<em>Nilda, El Bronx Remembered, Rituals of Survival: A Woman\u2019s Portfolio, Felita,\u00a0<\/em>and<em>\u00a0A Matter of Pride<\/em><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><strong>Gil Fagiani<\/strong>'s poetry collection\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/rainmountainpress.com\/wordpress\/product\/rooks\">Rooks<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(Rain Mountain Press, 2007) is set at Pennsylvania Military College in the 1960s, his poetry chapbook\u00a0<em>Grandpa\u2019s Wine<\/em>\u00a0(Poets Wear Prada in 2008) focuses on his family\u2019s immigrant generation, and has been translated into Italian by Paul D\u2019Agostino (Poets Wear Prada, pending 2009). His book of poetry\u00a0<em>Chianti in Connecticut<\/em>\u00a0was inspired by his childhood in Springdale, Connecticut (Bordighera, pending 2009).<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"sm_text\" style=\"text-align: left\">Gil\u2019s poems and translations have been published in more than a dozen anthologies, as well as such newspapers and journals as\u00a0<em>The New York Times, The Paterson Literary Review, Mudfish, Skidrow Penthouse, Descant, Philadelphia Poets, Identity Theory, Saint Elizabeth Street, The Ledge, Italian Americana, The Journal of Italian Translation,\u00a0<\/em>and<em>\u00a0Gradiva.<\/em><\/p>\r\n<p class=\"sm_text\" style=\"text-align: left\">He has translated into English, poetry written in Italian, Abruzzese dialect, and Spanish. He co-hosts the monthly open reading of the Italian American Writers\u2019 Association at the Cornelia Street Caf\u00e9, and is the Associate Editor of\u00a0<em>Feile-Festa: A Literary Arts Journal<\/em>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div role=\"tabpanel\" class=\"tab-pane \" id=\"tabs_desc_711_2\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<P><strong>Cuchifritos<\/strong><BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nI had the sizzle in my chisel for Nilsa,<BR>\r\ndug her big eyes, moist, meaty lips,<BR>\r\ncolor and curves like sculpted teakwood.<BR>\r\nOne night I took her to Papo's Cuchifritos.<BR>\r\nShe'd been playing hard to get all summer long<BR>\r\nand I figured a belly full of spicy pig parts and fritters<BR>\r\nmight open her up to other bodily pleasures.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nI'd eaten cuchifritos once before<BR>\r\nafter a night of blowing weed<BR>\r\nand tossing down Bacardi with Manny and Count<BR>\r\nthe former president and warlord of a local street gang<BR>\r\n--\"We even had our own social worker \"--Count boasted.<BR>\r\nWe'd finished harmonizing such doo wop classics<BR>\r\nas \"Deserie,\" \"Wind\" and \"Gloria,\"<BR>\r\nunder the archway of the Park Avenue El<BR>\r\nwhen Count pulled out a wad of bills<BR>\r\n--birthday money, he claimed--and said,<BR>\r\n\"let's grit at Papo's,\" a cuchifrito joint on 116th Street.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nBeneath blazing light bulbs over front window metal bins,<BR>\r\nCount pointed to orejas, rabitos, morcillas,<BR>\r\nacapurias, pastelillos, rellenos de papa.<BR>\r\nJuggling white cardboard boxes dripping cooking oil,<BR>\r\nwe sat on car fenders and ate pig's ears, pig tails,<BR>\r\nblood sausages, fritters and meat-filled potato balls.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nThe swagger of that night stayed with me<BR>\r\nas Nilsa and I walked into Papo's<BR>\r\nand copped squats on steel shiny stools.<BR>\r\nI pointed to half a dozen bins<BR>\r\nand soon cuchifritos were piled high in front of us.<BR>\r\nBefore I could pick up my fork<BR>\r\nNilsa grabbed a fire-red bottle<BR>\r\nand bathed a bacalaito--codfishfritter--<BR>\r\nwith Louisiana hot sauce devouring it in three bites.<BR>\r\nThen she picked up the tip of an oreja<BR>\r\nand began to chew on the rubbery cartilage,<BR>\r\nher teeth making loud crunching sounds.<\/P>\r\n\r\n<hr>\r\n\r\n<P><strong>Under the Ferris Wheel<\/STRONG><BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nI looked up to them:<BR>\r\nCount--his real name,<BR>\r\nHeriberto Col\u00f3n Hern\u00e1ndez--<BR>\r\nwarlord during the glory days<BR>\r\nof aristocratic, street fighting gangs,<BR>\r\nand Nandy--Dandy Nandy--<BR>\r\nformer second tenor<BR>\r\nof the 103rd Street Latineers,<BR>\r\na guest once on Symphony Sid's radio program.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nTogether they'd schooled me<BR>\r\n--college dropout, utopian do-gooder\u2014<BR>\r\nin the ways of the streets:<BR>\r\nla buena gente, la mala gente,<BR>\r\nthe trustworthy, the honorable,<BR>\r\nthe whores, hustlers,<BR>\r\nt\u00edteres, and cutthroats.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nThey taught me<BR>\r\nhow to slap five,<BR>\r\nmake verbal jive<BR>\r\nen espa\u00f1ol:<BR>\r\n<EM>\u00bfQu\u00e9 pasa?<BR>\r\n\u00a1Vaya\u00a1<BR>\r\n\u00a1Qu\u00e9 ch\u00e9vere!<BR>\r\nEstoy en algo.<\/EM><BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nThe best place to cop<BR>\r\n<EM>piraguas,<BR>\r\npastelillos,<BR>\r\nrellenos de papas,<BR>\r\npernil<\/EM> sandwiches,<BR>\r\nbags of chiba-chiba,<BR>\r\ncut-rate jugs of fruit-flavored wine,<BR>\r\nOrange-Rock, Lemon-Rock,<BR>\r\nTito Puente and Machito albums.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nThings to say to muchachas:<BR>\r\n<EM>preciosa,<BR>\r\nt\u00fa me vuelves loco,<BR>\r\n\u00a1ay mama!<\/EM><BR>\r\nBut Count and Nandy changed:<BR>\r\nlong sleeves in 100 degree weather,<BR>\r\nlegs that couldn't stay straight.<BR>\r\nThey laughed less,<BR>\r\ntook off without warning.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nI saw them together for the last time<BR>\r\nat the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel<BR>\r\non 3rd Avenue and 116th.<BR>\r\nSqueezing through a crowd<BR>\r\nof fine Italian and Puerto Rican mamis,<BR>\r\nwith a cerveza fria in one hand<BR>\r\nand a sausage hero in the other,<BR>\r\nI scoped them out under the ferris wheel<BR>\r\npicking through weeds,<BR>\r\nmetal piling,<BR>\r\ncardboard boxes of pizza crusts.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\n<EM>\u201cQu\u00e9 pasa?\u201d<\/EM> I said,<BR>\r\na boss lid cocked over my left eye.<BR>\r\n\"Something fell out<BR>\r\nwhen we rode the ferris wheel,\"<BR>\r\nCount said, white-lipped,<BR>\r\nthe bones of his shoulders showing.<BR>\r\n\"Like what?\"<BR>\r\nNandy turned,<BR>\r\ndropped to his knees,<BR>\r\nstaring through the holes<BR>\r\nof a sewer grating.<BR>\r\nNext she chowed down on two blood sausages<BR>\r\nthick and black as a policeman's club.<BR>\r\nThen she picked up a fried pig's tail<BR>\r\nand ate it like an ice cream cone,<BR>\r\nstrips of pork sticking out the side of her mouth,<BR>\r\nlips a blaze of yellow grease.<BR>\r\nI sat quietly nibbling on a potato ball.<BR>\r\n\"What's the matter, <EM>no tiene hambre\u2014<\/EM><BR>\r\nyou're not hungry?\"<BR>\r\nI smiled as a drum roll by Tito Puente<\/P>\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\t\t <\/div>\r\n <script>\r\n\t\tjQuery(function () {\r\n\t\t\tjQuery('#myTab_711 a:first').tab('show')\r\n\t\t});\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\tjQuery(function(){\r\n\t\t\tvar b=\"fadeIn\";\r\n\t\t\tvar c;\r\n\t\t\tvar a;\r\n\t\t\td(jQuery(\"#myTab_711 a\"),jQuery(\"#tab-content_711\"));function d(e,f,g){\r\n\t\t\t\te.click(function(i){\r\n\t\t\t\t\ti.preventDefault();\r\n\t\t\t\t\tjQuery(this).tab(\"show\");\r\n\t\t\t\t\tvar h=jQuery(this).data(\"easein\");\r\n\t\t\t\t\tif(c){c.removeClass(a);}\r\n\t\t\t\t\tif(h){f.find(\"div.active\").addClass(\"animated \"+h);a=h;}\r\n\t\t\t\t\telse{if(g){f.find(\"div.active\").addClass(\"animated \"+g);a=g;}else{f.find(\"div.active\").addClass(\"animated \"+b);a=b;}}c=f.find(\"div.active\");\r\n\t\t\t\t});\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\t\t});\r\n\t\t\r\n\r\n\t\tfunction do_resize(){\r\n\r\n\t\t\tvar width=jQuery( '.tab-content .tab-pane iframe' 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