Alfred Arteaga (May 3, 1950-July 4, 2008)

"The sorrow of war inside a soldier's heart was in a strange way similar to the sorrow of love. It was a kind of nostalgia, like the immense sadness of a world at dusk. It was a sadness, a missing, a pain which could send one soaring back into the past. The sorrow of the battlefield could not normally be pinpointed to one particular event, or even one person. If you are focused on any one event it would soon become a tearing pain."

~ Bao Ninh, THE SORROW OF WAR: A Novel of North Vietnam

He would have hated
Dying on the 4th. How sad
He'd say. And then he'd laugh.

His last words to me:

"We could drive home together. I'll tell you some lies."

Rest in color, mi companero.

Alfred Arteaga

May 3, 1950-July 4, 2008

Fourth of July In The Mission

Fourth of July In The Mission

for Alfred Arteaga


Fireworks and sirens
A little girl screams, "Daddy!"
Cries. You died last year

Everyone going
A pink velveteen jumpsuit
She's already gone

Because you loved me
All the colors remind me
Of ones you wanted

Where is hummingbird?
You loved like that: a bright
Awakening. You?

Too soon. Your laughter
On this morning an echo, a trace
Derrida's stammer

You would have hated
Dying on the 4th. How sad
You'd say, and then laugh

How lit up I was
That first foto, your return
From the dead. Again

For you I would have
Dyed my hair, magenta or
Chartreuse, would have dyed

Not so morose, your
Memory, last words to me
"I'll tell you some lies"

Why didn't I go?
"We could drive home together"
Would have been our last

Discolándia
Open. Manú o Maná
I'll buy one for you

Today I'll toast to
Revolution at Sunrise
Watch men with your hair

This Fourth of July
I'll think of you, relove you
Fireworks and sirens


7/4/09

Alfred Arteaga, Raulsalinas & Other Writers Remembered Today

I'll be remembering my dear friend, Alfred Arteaga, today at "Writers Remembered" at 1pm in the SF Public Library - perhaps I'll see you there?

• Writers Remembered, an annual literary event with readings, personal stories, and reflections by Bay Area authors on some of the writers, poets, editors and journalists who died in 2008, including tributes to William F. Buckley by Tom Barbash, Hayden Carruth by Barbara Berman, James Crumley by Peter Plate, Mahmoud Darwish by Deema Shehabi, Tony Vaughan by Jack Hirschman/Agneta Falk, Reginald Lockett by Al Young, Raulsalinas by Alejandro Murguia, Studs Terkel by Gerald Nicosia, John Trumbo by Sharon Doubiago, Dave Church by A. D. Winans, and Alfred Arteaga by Naomi Quinonez, Koret Auditorium, San Francisco Public Library, 100 Larkin, at Grove, SF, 1:00-4:00 (415/557-4277, sfpl.org)

Alfred Arteaga Memorial Today at UC Berkeley, Heller Lounge, 4-6pm

I will be remembering my dear friend, Alfred Arteaga, today at UC Berkeley, Heller Lounge (usac), 4-6. Descansa en paz, mi poeta.


Professor Alfred Arteaga in his office, 10/09/06, UC Berkeley. Photo by Lorna Dee Cervantes

Alfred Arteaga (5/3/50-7/4/08) - Funeral Information

Professor Alfred Arteaga in his office, 10/09/06, UC Berkeley. Photo by Lorna Dee Cervantes

Here's the latest information from the family on funeral arrangements. Viewing will be tomorrow, 5-7 pm in Santa Cruz. Funeral and after party in Pescadero.

Friday July 11th 5-7pm viewing
Pacific Gardens Chapel
1050 Cayuga Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95062
http://pacificgardenschapel.com/mapAndDirections.nxg

Saturday July 12th Noon
The funeral at the Holy Cross Church Mission.
126 High Street, in Santa Cruz.
http://www.holycrosssantacruz.com/mission.html


Directly following service is procession to St. Anthony's Cemetery in Pescadero, California. Family only, please at the commitment.

Saturday July 12th 2:30pm
After party
Native Son's Hall
112 Stage Road
Pescadero, CA
This is just down the road from the cemetery so walking distance for visiting after commitment.

Please no black. My dad requested colorful clothes.

Thank you,
-------------------------------------

There will be a memorial for Alfred at UC Berkeley sometime this fall.

Hasta, my friend, hasta

"100 Words After the Family of You"

100 Words After the Family of You

for A.A.


Grief makes a family. Every
death takes us further from
ourselves, out where the dust
forms into galaxies, matrices of
trust—the threads we tuck
under time, the taking time
to tuck or cover. My
time with you: an embroidered
shawl, a magnifying glass, a
glass of water. Too brief.
So long. Old friend. Amigo
del camino del sól. Critic
to the end. Suavecito muy
lindo. El sueño de mí,
sígue. Criticando. Signifying. Clarifying. Refining.
My life is half-empty
without you—music without the
chair, plate missing the meal,
this family of you without
you grieving songs of you.



7/7/08
Lorna Dee Cervantes

Sad, Sad News - Alfred Arteaga, Poet, Professor Has Passed ...

... on to Mictlán.

I will miss your wit, your face your voice; that mind and you - as irreplaceable as you were irrepressible. Sigue Compañero, and you know, you were. ~ LDC


Professor Alfred Arteaga in his office, 10/09/06, UC Berkeley


Poet, Xicano litcrit, Professor Alfred Arteaga

You can search this blog for more posts and information about Alfred Arteaga who passed last friday, July 4th, of an heart attack. Here is the information on services and a memorial to be held, possibly this saturday:

"Here is the preliminary information for my father's service:

Saint Anthony's Cemetery
Stage Road (near North Street)
Pescadero, CA 94060

We are thinking it is going to be on Saturday but we haven't confirmed it. We will have the funeral and the memorial service somewhere else in the area, probably in Santa Cruz. ~ Marisol Arteaga"

Here are some links to my blog. Alfred's website is www.alfredarteaga.com.

I'll post more later. This is very hard for me.

http://lornadice.blogspot.com/2007/12/lorna-dee-cervantes-performing-at.html

http://lornadice.blogspot.com/2006/11/fotos-from-road-front-nicolas-kanellos.html


Gente de Cobre