Where Heaven Sinks

“María Esquinca writes, cuts, splices, dissolves, screams, and takes feverish notes on the face of the Border Monster—a metaphysical wall with holes, bleeding eyes, and swollen lips of extra-sweet brown-skinned Mamey fruit—her lines figure—skate in and out of the page. Esqunica is not lost, she is on fire and scratched with sticky saguaro patrols and government policies of brutality. She is part document and rage, part quiz and torn back-packer numbering the bones, bodies, guts, and watery skin of pig-like killed human beings—yes, this is how heaven sinks. This is what a border delivers and power-men-legislators seem to bet for. Every line decomposes and composes to call on the Truth of an infected and broken nation and world we have allowed day by day. I applaud Esquinca, a compassionate warrior, a poet-tractor smashing through the razor-wires of oppression. This collection is a winner, a bilingual torch. These poems will prepare you to walk the cruel line between us even though we are the same. ¡Viva Esqunica! ¡ Viva all the border-crossers." 
—Juan Felipe Herrera, Emeritus Poet Laureate of the United States, Emeritus Poet Laureate of California, author of Every Day We Get More Illegal

“María Esquinca creates poems like a journalist—well researched and properly sourced—revealing and exposing the ills and injustices all around us; but her poems are also testimonies to the way language can give our lives shape, meaning, and hope.”
—Maceo Montoya, professor of Chicano/a studies and English, University of California, Davis, author of Preparatory Notes for Future Masterpieces: A Novel
 
“Esquinca’s poetry captures raw emotion with striking precision, drawing on lived experiences to create deeply resonant narratives. Through her work, history and identity come alive, giving voice to the struggles of migrants and the memories of communities. Her writing demonstrates the power of language to reveal truths, foster healing, and inspire change, urging readers to confront the spaces where pain meets possibility, and silence transforms into song.”
—León Salvatierra, The New Oeste series editor, author of To the North/Al norte