My American Kundiman

by Patrick Rosal

This pulsating collection picks up the beat and imagery of Patrick Rosal's thrilling debut, *Uprock Headspin Scramble and Dive*. Here, though, the poet's electric narratives and portraits extend beyond the working class streets of urban New Jersey. Modeling poems on the kundiman, a song of unrequited love sung by Filipinos for their country in times of oppression, he professes his conflicted feelings for America, while celebrating and lamenting his various heritages—whether by chatting up St. Patrick, riffing on race relations, or channeling Lapu Lapu in a rejoinder to Magellan. Passionate, provocative, and irrepressible throughout, *My American Kundiman* further establishes Rosal as a poet to be reckoned with.