My Mother's Name Lucha
your hands my hands
kindnesses dances silences sitting you i
El Paso Texas Segundo Barrio
Juarez 1918 1936 in gypsy dress actress
you sing i sing we sing lullabies of old
this now lines now my birth
heart now life
all life now
i bow to you
Used with permission of the author.
Juan Felipe Herrera
Juan Felipe Herrera was born in Fowler, California, on December 27, 1948. The son of migrant farmers, Herrera moved often, living in trailers or tents along the roads of the San Joaquin Valley in Southern California. As a child, he attended school in a variety of small towns from San Francisco to San Diego. He began drawing cartoons while in middle school, and by high school was playing folk music by Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie.