The work of Teresa Palomo Acosta comes from what she describes as el corazón de Tejas? the heart of Texas, Central Texas? where she was born. Acosta introduced her presentation as more than just a poetry reading, rather the event would be a venue to give voice to los meros meros. The meros meros are the important individuals in her family's history and the history of the heart of Texas. Her poetry resonates the experiences of growing up around los meros meros, the true first authors of the poems. As a poeta Acosta becomes the storyteller.

Teresa Palomo Acosta

Acosta began the reading by sharing pictures of her tias and parents in the 1930s in McGregor, Texas, the old house she was raised in, the vast cotton ranches, and handiwork made by her aunts. She evoked images of the women and men that traveled through Texas picking cotton, trabajando como burros as her mother described. She told stories of the plazas where people congregated, of the art of tortilla making, of the lost art of traditional female handiwork? deshilados and crotchet work. Interspersing poems with the pictures, Acosta brought to life the experiences of her ancestors and of Texas life.

Teresa's art as a poet comes from wanting to be an advocate. For Acosta, being an advocate means telling stories about people that had never been told. You tell their emotions and their anhelos. She writes as a Chicana empowered by the pueblo, discussing the abuse of seamstresses in the garment industry as well as asserting a woman's coming of age and being able to wear lipstick for herself alone. In this politicized consciousness, she also writes about Thomas Jefferson, the ghosts of slavery at Monticello, and the legacy of servitude that the downtrodden of the U.S. inherit. Acosta's work transcends poetry. She contributed to the Texas Handbook Project by writing articles on various aspects of tejano life in the last century, including Mexican women musicians. She is currently working on a history of tejanas from 1700-2000 in which she hopes to show these women as community builders, as civic participants and as artists.

Acosta's collection Nile & Other Poems can be obtained from Resistencia Bookstore in Austin, Texas (revolu@swbell.net).