The Milk of Your Blood is a luminous journey through landscape and memory. José Oseguera's elegant craft and vivid imagery are constant companions throughout this collection. His epiphanies are often anchored in the velvet undertow of cultural tradition, the shining ephemera of the natural world, and the uncomfortable beauty of human relationships. Intensely personal, yet wildly accessible, The Milk of Your Blood feels both organic and purpose-driven. From the primal and visceral, to the sophisticated and intellectual, this collection is satisfying on every level. It shows the world what we have known for years; Oseguera is a national treasure. Few poets can transport and challenge readers the way he can.-Jason Splichal, Founder and Co-Editor of Sky Island Journal
José Oseguera's new collection of poems, The Milk of Your Blood, offers a soulful and earnest lament in sharp, economic lines where his ear is always pitch-perfect. Questioning and revelatory, these poems explore a violent homescape, while seeking safety. The answers lie yonder. The narratives offer love after disappointed love. We are afraid when, yet again, another love as hope of healing appears near the end. We want to hope for hope. To hope for love. When the poet says, "we breathed for three," the reader is caught holding their breath, still hoping.
-JL Jacobs, Editor of Abstract Magazine
José Oseguera's debut collection, The Milk of Your Blood, is a modest miracle of grand import. In two halves that fit together like the lobes of a brain or a heart, it mines the well-intentioned shortfalls of our parents to illumine the terrors of repeating those same patterns with our own children. Along the way, it casts a clear and compassionate eye on love in all its forms-familial, erotic, altruistic and divine-while stunning the reader with unconventional imagery, unexpected rhythms, and unsentimental juxtapositions.
This is a book drenched in blood, sweetened with milk and honey, and steeped in all the precious bodily fluids that define our human lives. Surrender yourself in its pages and these poems will present you with nothing less than life itself. I'm honored to have been among the first to encounter Oseguera's work. I will certainly not be the last.
-William Shunn, Author of The Accidental Terrorist, editor of The Piltdown Review
