Dark and Perfect Angels

Poetry. " Saenz' poetry has always been centered in the geography and cultures of the desert Southwest. DARK AND PERFECT ANGELS moves deeper into that territory, exploring the difficult braiding of Mexican, Indian and European traditions of his heritage, the struggles and complications of family life, the visceral nature of religious faith in Mexico 'where and saint worth praying to must be adorned with blood as well as gold,' a priest's anointing of a young man dying from gunshot, the shedding of the priest's robes and the secular quest for faith. Indeed, this is a book about faith-a cry for honesty, compassion and community as antidotes to the cold-hearted self-interest that drives so much of American culture"-Alison Hawthorne Deming.