Literatura/ Literature

El

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Otro carro pasó por la calle regando el aire con el monótono boom boom boom del bajo en la canción insípida de un reguetonero. Su estómago comenzó a gruñir clamando por algo. A pesar de los rice flakes parecía tener hambre. Le dieron ganas de comerse una chimichanga de grillos y se preguntó cómo hacían los mexicanos para atraparlos, especialmente si sus chapulines eran tan listos como el grillo de su cuarto y al sentirlos venir en son homicida, se recogían calladitos en sus espacios.

Calladitos era un decir pues sus amigos de Oaxaca le habían dicho que cuando no cantaban se les oía respirar. Arturo asintió dirigiéndose a nadie. En Puerto Rico, al respirar no roncaban como su madre. Era un aliento gentil como el de un subibaja desplazando aire con aire. Si eso era un truco de su imaginación, una aflicción causada por la falta de sueño, era lo de menos. No le importaba que las cosas que oía fuesen reales o fantasmales. El sonido es el sonido y el silencio es una de sus caras.

Por más de una hora la casa y la calle se mantuvieron callados. Lo único que se escuchó fue el crujir de los rice flakes en su boca. Era un sonido bucal que se le regaba por el cerebro y no perturbaba a nadie. Más tarde, a la hora en punto, el graznido de un Narcissus Flycatcher se sintió en el reloj de la sala. Su madre tenía uno de esos relojes en la cocina y en la marquesina pero el único que funcionaba era el de la sala. Entre un chirrido y otro de los doce pájaros que sonaban a la una, a las dos, a las cuatro y a las cinco, veinticuatro horas al día, se oía la cadencia rítmica del segundero emitiendo su tac tac.

Arturo escuchó con atención el cantío de los gallos conversando entre ellos en la distancia y también percibió el sonido real de varios pájaros. Recordó el sonido de una trompeta ensartada en el muffler de una motora en Vieques. Imaginó bombas cayendo silbando en el aire. Su madre se escuchó emitiendo un ronquido de ultratumba. Se rascó un brazo y sus uñas sonaron como un rastrillo. Escuchó el impacto leve de la piel que caía en el suelo, acolchonándolo. Se metió en la cama y deslizó la sábana áspera sobre su cuerpo creando un sonido como el pasar de una lija suave. Al otro día, seguro de sí mismo en su habilidad para burlar la muerte, el grillo de su cuarto volvió a cantar.

21 de enero de 2023 - Carolina, Puerto Rico

JOSÉ EDGARDO CRUZ FIGUEROA (cruzjose5319@gmail.com) es natural de San Juan y criado en El Fanguito y Barrio Obrero en Santurce. Tiene una maestría en estudios latinoamericanos con una concentración en literatura de Queens College-CUNY y un doctorado en ciencias políticas del Graduate Center-CUNY. Es profesor en el Departamento de Ciencia Políticas en Rockefeller College, University at Albany-SUNY.

Su trabajo académico ha sido publicado por Temple University Press, Lexington Books y CENTRO Press y su trabajo creativo ha sido publicado en las revistas Confluencia, Sargasso, Cruce, 80grados, Siglo 22 y Latin American Literary Review. Es autor de Liberalism and Identity Politics: Puerto Rican Community Organizations and Collective Action in New York City (2019), Puerto Rican Identity, Political Development, and Democracy in New York, 1960-1990 (2017) y Identity and Power: Puerto Rican Politics and the Challenge of Ethnicity (1998).

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Since 2003, the award has been distributed annually to honor Western Massachusetts educators for their dedication and excellence. More than 100 Western Massachusetts educators are honored each year. This year’s Excellence in Teaching Award winners from Holyoke include:

• Jessica Bresnahan, Sullivan School Grade 7 and 8 English language arts teacher, was nominated for her exemplary teaching practices as a new teacher and for maintaining her classroom as a safe, inclusive space where students are impelled to think critically, use their minds well, problem-solve, and participate in real-world applications.

• Benito Colon, Holyoke High School North’s sole Spanish III teacher and 25-year veteran educator, was nominated for his dedication to his students and community, for setting high academic standards, and for continually refining and growing his practice. This year, he is teaching 135 students, 87% of whom are on track academically in his classes.

• Kimberly Comtois, Lawrence School kindergarten teacher, was nominated for creating an inclusive classroom community for her students and colleagues. Her students each have the opportunity to participate and succeed regardless of learning differences and preferences. Her students regularly engage in discourse and provide feedback to each other.

• Jesenia Dejesus, Holyoke Middle School special education teacher educator, was nominated for her transformational work with students, helping them meet grade-level standards and supporting their socialemotional health. She has experience at multiple schools within the district as both a general education and special education teacher.

• Allison Gonzalez, Kelly School grade 3 inclusion teacher, was nominated for leading dramatic growth in her students’ achievements after taking over the classroom earlier this year. She has implemented consistent rituals and routines including “ready to learn” expectations and practices, and delivers engaging, standards-aligned lessons that meet the needs of her students.

• Luis Robles, Holyoke High School Dean math teacher, was nominated for his problem-solving approach and collaborative work preparing lesson plans and curriculum resources for himself and his colleagues. After five years teaching at HHS North, he moved to Dean this year to assume a new position teaching in three different content areas to students in three grade levels.

The six HPS award recipients will be honored during an in-person banquet at the Log Cabin in Holyoke on May 3, where they will each receive an engraved plaque and a check for $250, along with tuition incentives and scholarships offered by seven major colleges and universities in the region— Elms College, Bay Path University, Mount Holyoke College, Springfield College, Western New England University, Westfield State University, and the University of Massachusetts. Winners will also receive memberships at WGBY and access to thousands of digital education resources, along with three-month memberships at the Springfield Jewish Community Center and at one of six regional YMCAs.

The Excellence in Teaching Awards program, now in its 20th year, is made possible by the Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation in partnership with the Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation.

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