Antonio Lopez’s interview was so inspiring and heart-felt. Every word he spoke sent chills down my spine. The way he delivered himself was very powerful and unique; something that I do not see often. To me, his superpower is poetry and writing overall. It is quite obvious that poetry is his natural talent, and his language which I find it fascinating. One thing during his interview that stuck with me is the way he views poetry. Antonio Lopez mentions that many people think of poetry as something from the Renaissance Era and nothing more.

Like in many of his poetry, Antonio Lopez displays his understanding of poetry and politics in “Triptych of the Adobe-Cotta Army” This poem really is one of my favorites. The choice of diction helps the readers, like me, visualize what exactly is being interpreted in the poem. Lopez includes politics by defining the effects of gentrification in his poem. In the interview, he highlights that he can only speak in poetry. Referring back to the way people view poetry, generally, he strives to communicate the conflicts and problems within the community through poems. He wishes to demonstrate that it is possible. In Triptych of the Adobe-Cotta Army, it displays Antonio’s view of how gentrification impacted the community, his family, his home.

Another important thing that Antonio Lopez included in his interview is that we, the low-class minority, need to attend Ivy League colleges or achieve education overall. That we should go against the title that the higher class gives, and change it.

Evelyn Hernandez

The artists’ POV

I learned a lot in the interview we had with Antonio Lopez over zoom. He helped me see a whole new side as well as the importance of poetry. The first thing I noticed about him was the way that he spoke was poetic in itself. He had a beautiful way of choosing words that communicated exactly the thoughts he was trying to get across. He even mentioned many metaphors and similes to describe what poetry is. It came across a little confusing to me at first, but I eventually understood that he was trying to get us to understand the meaning of what poetry meant through evoking feelings and emotions that we knew well instead of us trying to comprehend a dictionary definition of what it was. Like when he said “A poem is the obsession of an artist”, which can be seen in a million different ways depending on the person, it helps us think about what we are obsessed with and what we love and ties those emotions of our strong feelings of a certain hobby or even person, to poetry itself. I also loved when he stated that “poetry is a declaration that I AM HERE”. This provides the feeling of empowerment and that poetry is a way to express whatever feelings are in need of being expressed. That there is nothing to hide and that it is all your emotions and your own statement of your presence. I feel that his way of adding his own “I Am Here” to his poems is by always mixing Spanish and English in his poems. It creates a unique tone and even a more real tone and feeling because the reader knows this is his own language and he is not trying to hide who is, even in his work. He expressed who he is to the fullest by incorporating his language into his work. The last thing that really stuck with me about his interview was when he discussed that artists are the first ones people look to in times of tragedy because they can help try and make sense of things. This ties with another thing he mentioned which was that artists look to chaos and find the beauty in it. I believe that he is trying to explain that artists see things in a way that we may not right away. They see things from a different standpoint and by looking at things from another point of view we may be able to find the solution or make sense out of something tragic. I never thought of artists doing a job like that and it really stuck with me because it makes so much sense. Like artists could paint or write something and see it in a completely different way than everyone else and that is what we need when we cannot find an answer or a solution in times of tragedy. I feel that this is very important in politics and that we need more of it to be seen. By claiming that there is a need for different viewpoints of people to make sense of the world’s tragedies and set backs, it shows that we need to incorporate more of the views from different people of different cultural backgrounds, gender, sexuality, and all the possibly different viewpoints we can to find the best solution to the things wrong is our world. People are wonderful because we are all so different which means something that I cannot find the answer of may be insanely obvious for another person. Antonio also discussed that he is in politics now and is trying to incorporate his work and more artistry into politics just to make sense of issue or possibly find better and better solutions which I believe is a wonderful way of going about things and could lead to a better world. I overall loved the interview with Antonio Lopez and have learned so much from hearing about his point of view.

Emily Mayo

WE Are The Problem.

Gentrification is in the now, it is a present tense issue that keeps on expanding. We, as the UC Merced community, are apart of gentrification. As this university was built over the indigenous peoples’ land, and is still expanding, this is a perfect example of gentrification. In ‘Triptych of the Adobe-Cotta Army‘, Antonio Lopez challenges the traditional borders of English poetry and the politics of gentrification by the use of imagery, tone, and the structure of the stanzas.

Just looking at the overall poem, Lopez creates a visual representation of the tall buildings used in gentrification. He does this by creating the building with the words of each stanza, by having different length of each stanza, how the patterns of each line either is smaller than the one before or bigger than the previous. Also, based on on long, how vertical it is, us as readers can see that Lopez does this to recreate the buildings of gentrification.

Now look at the amazon logo, it is smiling down upon us.

Imagery and tone of the poem is a key part for Lopez to convey his overall message of the poem. Lopez creates a mixture personification, imagery and simile (lines 8-10) to show that the new Amazon building built is quite honestly mocking him, as it is raised much higher than him. He personifies the logo where it does have the shape of a mouth smiling. By being from around the East Palo Alto area, Lopez creates the gentrification of this area spot on, where all he is saying is true! The use of a sadden and angry tone is seen throughout the poem. The words “And Marias now mourn Jesus” (line 42-43) “We miss you”(line 48) all pertain to how one who is living in gentrification is feeling. The tones of these words show how it’s like mourning Jesus, the signs that were created saying “We miss you”.

Antonio Lopez, as a Poetician, crosses the traditional borders of English poetry. He creates a wide range of visual representation of gentrification such as the whole poem of words is structured to be formatted as a building! The use of imagery of tone to convey how the community felt and saw during the process of gentrification. Now that is the Adobe-Cotta Army that took over East Palo Alto.

Roma Ventura

“More Gentefication, Less Gentrification..”

After rereading the prompt for today’s blog, it reminded me of my favorite Netflix show called, Gentefication. To make it short, Gentefication consists of Mexican-American cousins working together to help support and save their immigrant grandfather’s taqueria from the claws of gentrification.It is not only the taqueria that is in risk of shutting down, but also neighboring grocery stores, bars and corner markets.  This takes place in Boyle Heights, giving insight on how gentrification not only affects the community and its culture, but also the hardship that is yet to come. Gentefication is a play on word of gentrification. ‘Gente’ in Spanish translates to ‘people.’ This show is a replica to what is going now– in real life; in the present.

Antonio Lopez is a victim of gentrification, much like many other families. His craftmanship of poetry is an amazing representation of what it is really like. His poem, Triptych of the Adobe-Cotta Army, delivers and conveys the raw emotions Lopez felt during these tough times. Lopez uses diction that may be considered “foul language” or “inappropriate.” How can one really deem this as “inappropriate” after what has happened to him and his family? A person who has never experience, should not try to have a say in this whatsoever. Lopez begins the poem with strong imagery, “My fingers are desperate / to unearth the ruins / of my countrymen (Lines 1-3.)” The countrymen is a representation of the victims. The second tercet continues what he discovered, “Only to find a Tesla / on the second floor / of our apartments (Lines 4-6),” and line 7, “— now a parking garage.” What was once homes to many families, is now a contributing factor to what has ruined, damaged and perhaps killed the soul, the livelihood, of what made the community great.

Another part of the poem that stood out to me, “Consider the clotheslines as a bandolier (Line 51).” In the poem, line 51 is separated from the following tercet stanza, which builds suspense. The two following, tercets “slung over ruined soldiers, / who’s uniforms still cling /  onto apartment balconies / Quien cedieron sus tierras / to raise the wrinkled flags / of blusas and neon vests (lines 52-57).” A bandolier is a piece of fabric, latched across the chest and body of a solider that carries ammunition. This reminds me of the Mexican-American War that resulted in Mexico handing over the Mexican Cession, and the Treaty of Hidalgo as evidence. Lopez ties the connection between the war and the present, as many families like Lopez’ have to struggle abundantly in order to survive. Many taking most jobs as laborers. It is as if Lopez is comparing gentrification and the community of “Latinidad” to battle of his ancestors and the “white forces” that long fought on the same land– many, many years ago.

Lines 64-66 holds a big impact overall, in my opinion. It goes like this, “All to nurse the newborn / with this vision, / Una vida mejor (Lines 64-66).” Lopez hits the target; the reasoning as to why so many immigrants from Mexico come here to the United States. Children of immigrants parents, are taught at a young age, that living here in the United States is the key to a better life. How can this be a better life if people like Antonio Lopez, are forced to flee their homes because they cannot meet their (those wanting to ‘improve the community) definition of what makes them a responsible citizen? They work day and night, having little to no sleep, to make ends meet and simply that is not enough?

The article published by Los Angeles Times, highly discusses why second-generation or the generation with college education, must give back to the communities they came from. Why our gente should help the community and keep the soul alive, to prevent gentrification from clashing down on the them.

Evelyn Hernandez

Voices of the Unheard

Gentrification is when the original community in a neighborhood is changed due to the increase in affluent residents and business. Most locals who were in these certain neighborhoods for generations, have a strong resentment for this new movement. While others believe this is just evolution within the city to make it prosper. Growing up in California that is being gentrified before our eyes, I understand what most people go through just like Antonio López. Since gentrification is a controversial topic, lots of people steer away from bringing up the challenges most residents face when going through gentrification. When a city is being gentrified the cost of living increases and other citizens struggle and eventually have to move out of their hometown. This shift affects most minority ethnic groups and helps rich people more than anyone. Some people see gentrification as an investment while others see it as destruction to their authentic community. 

Most citizens are told to send letters or call their councilmen so real change can happen. In this letter Letter to the Editor Lòpez brought up points that many minorities think when they feel that they have been wronged. In the first paragraph Lòpez talks about how some people cut a ribbon due to a new health clinic opening. The diction that Lòpez used to describe the ribbon cutting, “a measly ribbon”, already sets the tone for this letter. Lòpez then goes on to mock the location they put the health clinic in, “The press bravely announced East Palo Alto as a ‘strategic location’ in the Silicon Valley…” as if he were mad they described East Palo Alto as a “strategic location”. The most impressive part of the poem is when Lòpez listed out five questions that this editor did not mention in her book. The question that was the most effective in my opinion was “4. Should I unlearn Spanish so I can take the SAT ॥ ‘fairly’?”, knowing how hard the SAT is for english speakers like me, I can only imagine how much non-english speakers struggled. However, as López pointed out, the city and state do not care how hard it is, you just need to pass it. Lastly, López ends the poem by asking a question, “Más que nada, cómo te parece if you and your colleagues wrote about us, and not just the negative shit?”. Having to ask someone what the first part meant, they explained to me López is asking, “More than nothing how would you like it if your colleagues wrote about us not just the negative shit”, he is wondering why can’t it ever just be positive, why only negative comments about people in his community. This poem and the rest of his poems not only cross the traditional borders of English poetry but also challenge it, while also challenging politics, politicians, and gentrification as a whole by showing true emotions within the poem. Cussing is not something that is typical for poetry, however, in this poem it brings it to life, and it makes the poem come true seeing how angry people really are about this whole process. These communities face grievances everyday, and they do not need to be burdened anymore then they already are.

Joseph Jordan

Losing The Burning Spirit

With Antonio Lopez’s poem Triptych of the Adobe-Cotta Army, it drives deep into the theme of gentrification as it details the processed rebuilding and remodeling of a poor neighborhood with its community endanger of the outcome that may come, but through personification, symbolism, and imagery, Lopez illustrates the battle the locals have risen up fight against but not lasting for long. Lopez incorporates an exclusive style of the poem as through the title of “Triptych,” it is defined as a three part piece as by looking at the poem, it is separated into three parts which presents a new direction and tool of poetry. 

By looking at the first part of the poem. Lopez begins, “My fingers desperate / to unearth the ruins / of my countrymen” as he personifies the desperation of discovering within the ruins of their home that included the local people who lived by that area. Gentrification is a very distinguishable change to a community as it wipes away the culture and “visual” negative aspects of an area that make it true to the people who have lived their whole lives, but the change is what takes them away from the reality of their home to impress higher class people. Lopez having lived in East Palo Alto has probably witnessed such striving of gentrification as he mentions, Tesla / on the second floor of our apartment / — now a parking garage” as the Tesla company being a big contributor the the gentrification of certain areas by taking home space of families and locals. Explains who is causing this issue that is affecting many locals as if they can not fight against the big companies of Tesla and Amazon as they take over their area without much of a say to those who respect the city. 

Through the second part of the poem, Lopez opens the relationship between the saviors and the locals of such areas when clashing. Lopez describes, “hooded saints / tore the covenant / of earthly silence” where Lopez identifies the villains who are masked as those “saints” that will help the neighbor their their plans, but they destroy the city as breaking the universal agreement of not letting the changes affect the families and locals who have submerge their roots into the city. It’s as if they are to “preach” to the community as they try justifying their actions and decisions for the best of the city and people, but many people who do not think the same. As those people who are greatly affected are those protecting the poverty line of the city, Lopez describes “pressed / against my lips / a cholo’s chalice” where he forced to hear and understand the struggles of those front he tough areas of the city. Up for the fight, Lopez states, A fist tucked / inside a hoodie” where it demonstrates the hidden anger and frustrations the people must feel as their homes are taken away and their city changes that gentrification brings without their knowing but wanting to risk everything to take back their city. 

WIth the final part of the poem, Lopez portrays the heroes who risk everything to protect their home and community as they become soldiers in this endless battle of gentrification. Lopez mentions, “Consider the clothesline as a bandolier / sling over the ruined soldiers, / whose uniformes still cling / onto apartment balconies” as he makes the comparison of the clothesline to their bandolier that holds the ammunition over their shoulders as they are to dress to go to war against the gentrification. Lopez symbolizes the locals who wanted to fight against the battle as the soldiers, but they have let their burning spirit of taking back their city die as they give up the fight and hang up their uniforms. 

Lopez explores a different direction of poetry to better develop his main idea of the battle of gentrification because through the personification, symbolism and imagery, he demonstrates the to challenge the politics of gentrification as they are to being against the big corporations and locals losing their courage of speak back towards the gentrification.

Naraint Catalan Rios

The Voices that they Leave Behind

Cifriana Mina Dela Cruz

Gentrification, according to the dictionary, is the process in which a poor urban area is changed due to wealthier people moving in and modifying the area, which mostly forces out people who are currently living there. Communities are destroyed, people who have their way of life forcibly relocating all so that corporate can “improve the land”. Unfortunately it isn’t really talked about, there seems to be a mindset that people’s lives would be improved if they created businesses there, not realizing that those already built up history and community in their circumstances. As I was reading the poem “A Letter to the Editor” by Antonio Lopez, the speaker also seemed to carry this sentiment that there is more to those areas than to what outsiders perceived them to be.

First of all, the poem was structured like a letter towards a woman named Kara Derr, the writer of the article “Life on the Other Side of the Silicon Valley’s Tracks”, which is pretty unique in itself. And I think this challenges the structure of English poetry because it completely goes against the traditions and “rules” that most people would use to determine the quality of a poem. Interestingly enough though, because of the way the letter is structured, it also has this informal feel as the speaker addresses his complaints about the article. This is especially noticed at the end of the poem, where there is one phrase in Spanish that stands out from the rest (I will get to that in a moment as well so please bear with me).

The second thing I noticed is the mocking quality within the poem. The speaker makes it very clear through quoting various phrases in Ms. Kerr’s article that it seems as if she believes that their actions have ultimately improved the town, calling it “this once down-and-out” town now known as “a ‘strategic’ location in the Silicon Valley”. It’s through this alone that we can see through their “generosity” to help the town, which was once thought of as an area to skip over, only to be used for profit. The speaker mocks her words, downplaying what she believed to be legitimate achievements that help out the citizens from his town, using phrases like “cut a measly ribbon, patted themselves/on the back”, “touted tech hubs…/ for being on the “cutting edge of social/innovation”. The speaker reveals that it is nothing but lip service, praising themselves for not even doing the bare minimum. In a way I think it challenges gentrification because it questions the justifications that those like Ms. Kerr have for doing so.

This is especially true when moving forward with the poem, when the speaker asks five questions to the editor. He begins to question if his life is of any value, which also is a way of resistance. As stated in Lopez’ “Gentefication”, he questions gentrification as not only the death of communities, but also his way of life, or even his culture, the death of his language, or even the outsider’s perception of his life. And I think this is especially clear here, when he reveals the way others have perceived him. Phrases like “Atherton moms keep asking if I was related to the/facilities workers”, “should I unlearn Spanish”, “How many times does my dad have to make pozole”, reveal his exhaustion on having to cater to the outsider’s view of success and how much of his life is not just seen as different, but pitiful. This leads up to the “Mas que nada, como te parace…” question.

I looked up the phrase. According to Google Translate, it means “more than anything, how do you think”. So the whole question posed is roughly “More than anything, how do you think if you and your colleagues wrote about/us, and not just the negative shit?” This… struck a chord with me. And that phrase alone is probably what made this poem stand out to me. And I think keeping the last phrase in Spanish before turning it into English is completely rebelling against the rules of English poetry, because in that moment I think was the moment of highest emotion, almost like a betrayal. And I think the fact that it was in Spanish made it more personal, while also leaving the audience in the dark in some way. If he translated that in English, I don’t think it would have the same impact, because in a way the Spanish phrase could be seen as the speakers’ way of holding onto his last remnants of life before they came and took what they had just for monetary gain.

I believed that through his poetic structure and mocking tone, along with the remnants of his heritage, “A Letter to the Editor” separates the true motives of those in favor of gentrification and exposes them, as well as the consequences for leaving those who still reside there behind.

Rich People, Am I Right?

Gentrification.  The dictionary defines it as “the process whereby the character of a poor urban area is changed by wealthier people moving in, improving housing, and attracting new businesses, typically displacing current inhabitants in the process.”  While this is a very accurate summarization of the process, gentrification does not only apply to neighborhoods or cities.  Often, it can be applied to simple aspects of people’s lives such as language and writing.  This is made most apparent in traditional English poetry where often authors go through a process of refinement and polishing to make their works seem more “respectable” and readable.  Often this means changing the wording or topics to be more complex or difficult to understand for the reader, usually through the use of extremely abstract imagery and metaphor or usage of words not commonly known by the wider public.  This works to exclude the “lower levels” of people, in society, and creates a border that usually only the upper-class and educated have the time, resources, or understanding to cross over from.  However, not everyone is willing to accept this as the reality of all English poetry.  Consider author Antonio de Jesús López of the book Gentefication and the idea of someone who writes not for the rich and elite, but for the masses and everydayers.  His past is already a stark contrast from most poets as he is neither fully European (specifically Anglican), speaks Spanish as his native tongue, and grew up poor and impoverished, yet he was still able to cross the wall of privilege that was meant to prevent people like him from gaining access to this type of poetry.  And now that he’s on the “other side,” per say, he has made it his poems’ duty to challenge the politics of gentrification.  

But how does one go about challenging something so huge as gentrification, you ask? Well, To best resist the politics of such gravity, one must work to not only include those of lower placement in the societal hierarchy, but to also make whatever it is you are using as the device accessible to them.  The three prime ways López does this is through his usage of common experiences, structure,  and language that many people outside of the rich in society can see and relate to.  One of the most prominent examples of this goal is the poem “The Last Day My Father Spent in Mexico.”

Throughout the poem, López talks about experiences his family went through such as how he learned to stop calling his father “Papá” in public, watch his Apá bite his tongue at every “Pick it up” and “Excuse me, Señor” grunted amidst clanking silverware, or the familiar set-up of “huddling over the bonfires of an almuerzo in a small apartment with three plastic chairs, but six different pictures of the Virgin Mary.”  Not only is he providing imagery for his childhood, but also creating a sense of relatability to the reader.  Those who have grown up in immigrant families, especially of Hispanic descent, can tell you of the difficulties and fond memories of growing up. There was the shame associated with having parents who were struggling to make ends meet, often working day and night just to be  able to live in a tiny apartment so as to not end up on the streets.  The sadness one saw when their parents had to bite their tongue around their superiors, often white and upper class, whenever they were in work, at the store, or even in their own homes, less they end up being ridiculed  or, worse, have their livelihoods endangered.  But, there were still happy memories.  Of large families, of a faith that pushed your parents to never give up, of the comfort in knowing that you aren’t in this alone and that your family always has your back.  It provides comfort to the reader and makes them feel included rather than displaced or excluded from poetry.  It portrays these experiences as things that should be valued and listened to just as much as any other topic of poetry.  

Another aspect López applies to challenge the politics of gentrification is poetic structure.  See, much like gentrification of neighborhoods, English poetry applies a form of line application to “weed out” those who it does not want.  Specific rhyming schemes, meter requirements, and patterns of repetition are some of the ways it discriminates against others.  By heavily implying that these rules need to be followed to make “good” poetry, people are falsely led to believe that other forms more tangible to the average person are inferior and often disregarded, much like the poorer residents through the introduction of gentrification.  López rejects this idea in the simplest way possible: he just does not do it.  His whole poem isn’t made to rhyme, have a coherent or noticeable meter following, or even have line stanzas.  It is written as a series of sentences and paragraphs, easy to figure out where one thought begins and ends, made to be accessible to everyone.  This not only makes my job easier, but makes it so that everyone can read the poem and understand what he’s trying to say without the confusion that comes with the previous form of poetic structure or it’s daunting atmosphere.  This poem is also very easy to follow in its ideas because of the structure.  If he had posed it as the way the old, white, aristocrats intended it would have made no sense.  The piece would’ve seemed like a giant run on sentence, with the reader getting lost half-way through and preventing his original message from getting through.  This shows other poets that they can skip the fancy and unnecessary decoration of works like that, if they want to, and keep it simple.  It does not reduce the value of their ideas or make their poetry any less impactful.  

The final way López pushes against gentrification is through language.  Language was often a discriminating factor against people, especially non-English speaking minorities.  Through heavy accents of the speaker, mixtures of the native language and English words, and the difficulty of fully learning English, it was (and still is!) very hard for the lower class to be respected when it came to language.  The upper-class knows this and would often write their poetry solely in English or “respected” languages like Latin or French to discourage the average person from pursuing an understanding.  Afterall, why engage with what you can’t even fully understand and risk misinterpreting everything and looking like a fool?  It wasn’t just the language itself but also the words used in said poetry.  See, the elite would employ words of uncommon variety to make their poems unintelligible to anyone who wasn’t at least a Middle-class academic.  Think words like Pulchritudinous (beautiful or pretty), Consanguineous (of the same blood), and Polyphiloprogenitive (common or of various offspring), that could be easily summarized in another more simple word or in a short few phrases.  However, people employ these words not because they want to be easily understood, but because it makes those of higher education continue to employ a sense of superiority in intelligence over others.  López dismantles that notion in two ways: 1.) He uses simple sentence structures, phrases, and words for his readers and 2.) He inserts his native language of Spanish to make available for a wider audience.  Throughout the poem, phrases like “He smuggled his wife and two children in for Sunday Brunch” and “Eres el único hijo que aún manda dinero” work hand-in-hand to prove this point.  The former sentence is easy to understand and comprehend.  It has no unusual words that people aren’t familiar with and it isn’t unnecessarily difficult to unpack.  Anyone of any education level can read it and understand that it’s him telling a story of one way his dad fed his family.  The second phrase primarily applies to the Spanish speaker.  Considering López’s background, this makes sense.  Spanish is something he grew up with and was likely exposed to at home, with friends, and at all sorts of family gatherings.  His inclusion of it is natural and not meant to be exclusionary as a lot of people (think over 41 million in the United States alone) speak it as their first or second language.   It is common and can easily be translated (literally coming out as “you are the only son who still sends money”), something that gentrification is purely against.  

Poems like  “The Last Day My Father Spent in Mexico” are necessary to make people understand that poetry is like life itself, the good parts of it should not be designated only for the rich and privileged.  They’re stories aren’t the only ones that matter and their existence should not take over and push out others, not in neighborhoods and not in literature.  Everyone is born into this world and should have the chance to live their lives and tell their stories without unnecessary barriers preventing them from crossing.  

Jojo C. Chukwueloka

A new challenger has appeared!

The process of gentrifying existing communities allows for mass amounts of people to be displaced without their consent. Once city officials decide that a neighborhood needs to be upgraded for economical reasons, residents of that neighborhood are forced to leave their homes. This is because the upgrading that is happening is converting residential areas into commercial areas in low income neighborhoods where residents do not have a say or financial power to tell the city otherwise. Poet Antonio Lopez is one of many victims of gentrification, and illustrates its complications in his book of poetry Gentrification. One particular example, Triptych of the Adobe-Cotta Army, uses unique poetic elements two discuss his experiences with the topic. Similar to Natalie Diaz’ Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Reservation, Lopez attempts to challenge traditional poetry and creates an obvious disconnect in familiar themes. 

In her poem, Diaz plays with the traditional symbols of angels and Heaven, manipulating their importance through her poetry to achieve a definition opposite of it’s typical meaning. By the end of her work she successfully replaces these traditional religious symbols of angels and heaven into devils for hell through situational irony. While Antonio Lopez may not experiment with the exact same themes or topics, he manages to create a similar disconnect using his phone devices and themes of his work Triptych of the Adobe-Cotta Army. One of the most striking examples to me was on line 4 where the speaker states; “The Amazon logo smirks above me like a biblical cloud”. Here Lopez challenges traditional religious symbols by explaining the Amazon logo sign as a religious or biblical figure in itself and a satirical way. This is very similar to Diaz’ efforts in her work. The final line of the poem, “And so father cradled my head inside asphalt, Prayed for our rite to simply wade”. This challenges traditional religious symbols as instead of father blessing him in a church or temple. Instead he is blessed inside asphalt which is typically used to construct roads and challenges traditional religious symbols as instead of father blessing him in a church or temple, he is blessed inside asphalt which is typically used to construct roads, being the physically the lowest point of society. This is to create a juxtaposition between heaven, which is itself supposed to be viewed as ascended or high in the sky, completely opposite of a dirty asphalt road. Additionally, he is also depicted praying for the right to Wade which is the antithesis of the way one might righteously fly or run to freedom. Overall, we can see that Lopez uses his poetry to challenge traditional uses in poetry in attempts to illustrate gentrification, similar to how Natalie Diaz challenges traditional aspects of poetry to illustrate the mistreatment of Native Americans on their own land.