Ninety miles of poems

This fall, a diplomatic gesture following a long, troubled relationship between countries will be available to all in the form of poetry.

On Sept. 30, the University of Pittsburgh Press will publish renowned poet Richard Blanco’s bilingual work, “Matters of the Sea,” or “Cosas del Mar.” Blanco hopes the work will help mend relations between the United States and Cuba.

Blanco, 47, delivered the poem “Matters of the Sea” at a ceremony in Havana, Cuba, for the reopening of the U.S. Embassy on Aug. 14. He will feature the poem in his upcoming chapbook, a small collection of poetry that often centers around a specific theme.

For Blanco, who is both Cuban and American, the ceremony was a way of connecting his two homelands.

“[This] was obviously something that hit very close to home. All my writing has, in one way or another, been aimed at trying to reconcile the two cultural halves of my identity,” he said.

Blanco said he used his poem to metaphorically breach the distance between the United States and Cuba.

“The sea becomes a symbolic element in the poem to evoke the common humanity of the Cuban people, the Cuban exiles and the American people.”

Charles Skinner, a professor of foreign policy and diplomacy who spent nearly three decades in government service working on central foreign policy issues, said Blanco’s poem did mix the two cultures. Because of this, Skinner said, people will remember the poems in both their poetic and historical contexts.

“I predict that ‘Matters of the Sea,’ ‘Cosas del Mar’ is one of the elements that will be remembered as we try to recall the nature of what is happening in the reestablishment of relations,” he said.

Maria Sticco, a publicist for the University of Pittsburgh Press, said while the manuscript is different from other projects, its relevance in today’s political atmosphere makes the poem important.

“Mr. Blanco was commissioned to write the poem for the re-opening of the U.S. Embassy in Cuba, and we wanted to make it available to the public as soon as possible,” Sticco said.

Blanco said he has more plans for his chapbook once it is published, including highlighting his involvement with National Hispanic Heritage Month and using the book’s proceeds for the greater good.

Blanco said he plans to donate all of the proceeds from the book to Friends of Caritas Cubana, a non-profit organization that works to enhance the capacity of Caritas Cubana, a non-governmental humanitarian group in Cuba associated with the Roman Catholic Church. Friends of Caritas Cubana provides humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable citizens in Cuba, including the elderly and single mothers.

Not only will Blanco’s chapbook help Cuba financially, many say it will help culturally as well. For Louise Comfort, a professor of public and international affairs at Pitt, Blanco’s poem is an effective way to express cultural identity and acquaint a foreign audience to a different worldview.

“In order to understand a society from a different perspective, it is essential to learn more about the values and insights of its citizens,” she said. “Poetry offers a glimpse into how people perceive beauty, what their hopes and thoughts are, how they relate to the world around them.”

Blanco said the beginnings of his poems are rooted in his connection with his environment.

“I began thinking about the sea — the 90 infamous miles that separate the U.S. and Cuba — and how to subvert that and think about how it connects us metaphorically as well,” Blanco said.