Gary Soto…A Latino Poet “After Tonight” by Gary Soto from The Elements of San Joaquin A Hispanic Poet writing about what matter most to us all… living our everyday life with passion. By Mrs. Marlowe

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION Gary Soto was born in 1952 in northern California, in the city of Fresno. Soto was the son of Mexican-Americans, he “…was born into not only a Chicano culture, but also a culture of poverty” (Kellman, Magill). Before becoming a poet, he worked in the fields and in factories. Later, he attended college. After being married, Soto wrote his first book of poems, The Elements of San Joaquin, in which the poem, “After Tonight,” is featured (Kellman, Magill). Gary Soto Delete box or real estate logos can go here.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT Gary Soto began writing poems in the 1970’s and continues today, a time period referred to in literature as Post Modernism. In the 1970’s, the first computers were invented. Also, the Apollo 11 landed on the moon. In the late 1970’s, the first home computer was sold, an Apple. In the 1980’s, the Iran-Iraq war killed thousands. In the 1990’s, there was a mass killing at Columbine High School in Colorado. In 2001, terrorists hijacked three planes and launched the first terrorist attack on United States soil (Teen Web).

“After Tonight” by Gary Soto Because there are avenues You expect your daughter Of traffic lights, a phone book To be at the door any moment Of brothers and lawyers, And your husband to arrive Why should you think your purse With the night Will not be tugged from your arm That is suddenly all around. Or the screen door You expect the stove to burst Will remain latched A collar of fire Against the man Who hugs and kisses When you want it, His pillow The siamese cats In the corridor of loneliness? To move against your legs, purring. There is a window of light But remember this: A sprinkler turning Because blood revolves from one lung to the next, As the earth turns, And you do not think of the hills Why think it will And of the splintered wrists it takes After tonight? To give you The heat rising toward the ceiling.

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