Crown of the Valley

In his poem “The Creations of Sound,” American poet Wallace Stevens (1879–1955) suggests poetry should “make the visible a little hard / To see.” 

Literary critics call this “defamiliarization.” Or, as Stevens notes in “Tea at the Palaz of Hoon,” about exploring familiar territory a poet can write, “And there I found myself more truly and more strange.” 

In “Crown of the Valley,” poet Marco Antonio Iglesias finds himself in Pasadena.

Crown of the Valley

An apprentice — no more than a pupil. 
My youthful years brazing the written word, 
Collegiate at most. 
At a distance from the mountain crest, 
Past the oaks where the Tongva dance, 
There you were — squeezed in a schoolyard banner, 
Promising the most coveted mothlike glitter, 
A prep so fast, bringing sounds of a regimented stance, 
I saw more than dates on palm trees. 
The footsteps were heard in the reruns on Green Street, 
Rolling with wheels down a canopy road, 
Almost like a sail kissing and waving a lover goodbye. 
At a peripheral, horses in sight swatting old nibbling flies, 
From equestrian tales I learned to use my legs. 
The uproar of a rose garden plunged into a bowl
And gave rise to my oval pen. 
My studies were hard as rock, purposeful but without aim. 
In a panic, the old Colorado soothed the indigestion of no end. 
In every marked parade, time allows a reckoning: 
That the rocks being chewed are now being seen. 
At most, that banner was me. In the most purposeful design, 
My words drew closer to the city’s Spanish-whispering protector. 
An archangel hugs the mornings and nights, 
Sharing alms of poetic splendor.

— Marco Antonio Iglesias

Marco Antonio Iglesias is a mental health professional and emerging poet based in Los Angeles. With over ten years of experience working with various marginalized communities and nonprofit organizations, he has collaborated in ongoing efforts to reduce homelessness and poverty to improve the lives of many abandoned Angelenos.

Local News Pasadena (LNP) publishes poems grounded in current news events from the greater Pasadena, California area. Submit your own poetry here.