Junkyard Dogs by Damien Flores

“Through the voices of ‘our breathing ancestors,’ Flores bring to life generations of nuevomexicanos and Chicanos that have shaped the Burque landscape. His poetry reminds us that this space if filled with the hearts and souls of those who have come before us and continue to inspire us through storytelling. His poetry echoes life lessons of love and loss, heroic deeds, and the everyday triumphs of those we hold in high esteem and those that often are forgotten.”-Dr. Vanessa Fonseca, Asst. Professor of English, Arizona State University

“Damien Flores is a griot of his comunidad chronicling lives worth ‘nothing and everything.’ He sings songs of saints, whispers prayers of barrio boxers, chants testemonios of junkyard dogs, recites raza histories real and imagined, and dances with ghosts claiming space for them among the living. Like John Henry reincarnated as Juana Henrieta, Flores’ characters are defiant homes on gentrified blocks battling for survival. These cuentos, “smooth as a new Cadillac,” are crafted with rhythm, soul, and honesty. But above all, they are written with love from the heart of a powerful storyteller. Junkyard Dogs excavates proud bones which refuse to remain buried.”-Amalia Ortiz, HBO Def Poet and author of Rant. Chant. Chisme

“Damien Flores is the kind of poet that feels right at home in the company of the dispossessed and outcast, in the loco streets of La Ruca, where he was raised and on the smoke hazed stages across the spoken word barrios where brujo poets are welcomed and celebrated. His poemas are like canticos and mystical orations that capture the spirit of our ancestors, nuestro antepsasados, in a manner that must startle even them. You are ahead of us now hermanito. May your words guide the way.”-Levi Romero,, author and New Mexico Centennial Poet