Tlahtocuicayotl

Summary of my book TLAHTOCUICAYOTL, Mis Luengos Monlogos. By Oscar Luis GuzmnTlahtocuicayotl, Mis Luengos Monlogos is a compilation of my most popular recitations that I present in the form of long poetic monologues, fashioned for public recitals. I have recited them in appearances in many cities around the world, in person, on radio and on television with unprecedented achievement. Tlahtocuicayotl is the nahuatl term for long poems or recitations. I use it to honor the ancestral legacy of the Aztecs who used the Xochicuitl, (el Floricanto), the Flowery Song, as a way to deliver historical accounts, romantic and military epics and share their thoughts in their gatherings, as we do now in our own days on special occasions. Some of these poems represent a compendium or my work in over 40 years and some were already published in my other books; but these were specifically put together, sometimes consciously unifying three, four or more short poems into one to make up a story or to make a point. The result was a series of long elegies in honor of my ancestors and my heritage; others to decry an historical event, such as the destruction of my culture, yet others are personal spiritual meditations, and others are simply songs of sadness or melancholy over a lost love or an experience that changed the life of an individual. In this book I proudly utilize many words in classic Nahuatl, the language of my ancestors as a way of showing that Nahuatl, intermingled with Spanish makes a beautiful harmonious, gentle and rhythmically poetic language.