West End Press
Publishing Voices
from the Margins
- NEW
- BOOKS
- ABOUT
one night I was shooting pool down
at Jack’s
when the bartender yelled out
that there was a phone call
for someone whose name sounded
like mine
and I was real surprised
that it was for me, you know
well, it was this fine babe from
the Westside
that I’d met a few weeks before
she said that my roommate
had told her I’d be there
she said she’d been wondering
what I’d been doing
and how come I hadn’t called
she wanted me to go over
so I said yeah, o.k.
I’ll be there in a little while
but I want to shoot a couple
more games
not that I was really interested
in pool anymore
but, hey I couldn’t let on
like I didn’t ever get
those kinda calls, you know
—from “Easynights and a Pack of Frajos”
In his first collection of poems, Levi Romero expresses the heart of a stranger at the margins of a city—Albuquerque. His sturdy judgment, self-deprecating humor, and respect for his friends and culture give this volume its appeal.
Whether sympathizing with a friend’s humiliating circumstances or talking to a girl on a phone from a bar, Romero projects a personality both guileless and sensitive.
“Levi’s words are familiar yet astounding in their recall of minute and crucial detail.”
— Luci Tapahonso
A native son of the Embudo Valley in northern New Mexico, Levi Romero attended school in Albuquerque and went on to graduate from the University of New Mexico.
Currently he holds a position as lecturer in the University’s writing program, specializing in community outreach and teaching bilingual poetry writing.