ly walks through the Rio Grande Bosque hosted by local poets, has joined forces with the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the City of Albuquerque Open Space Division in a community-powered reforestation effort for the Albuquerque bosque. “One of the best ways to protect something,” Otero says, “is to make sure that a lot of people care about it. Here we have the longest cottonwood forest in the world. We 66

TREND 20th Anniversary Summer 2019

need the bosque, and we are so lucky to have it nearby.” Otero believes that the poetry walks develop and deepen the relationship between Burqueños and the bosque and help them reflect on their feelings of home through writing. “Activists and artists need each other,” she says. Otero approaches a cluster of volunteers carrying shovels and augers and hands them pens and strips of celadon green Japanese paper. “Would you like to write a

Anita Otilia Rodriguez working as an enjarradora in Taos in 1970. Top: Pie for My Deceased (2015), acrylic on board and Masonite

COURTESY OF ANITA OTILIA RODRIGUEZ (2)

Persons of Interest