Gabriel Trujillo Muñoz's "Permanent Work: Poems 1981-1992"

Gabriel Trujillo Muñoz's Permanent Work: Poems 1981-1992 was published in 1993 by the San Diego State University Press. Interestingly, his works were organized by date, to visually demonstrate Munoz's evolution of his writing style to the reader.

I was particularly drawn to the poem “Turbulence” (Muñoz, 28). The vivid imagery feels almost jarring, reminding me somewhat of airplane turbulence, especially starting at the quote “vital signs/Dissolve into the mud”. I could almost hear the squelch of the mud described in the aforementioned quote. The collection consists of almost all poems in verse, excluding about six or so poems written in prose, demonstrating Muñoz’s range in writing skills. The back-cover of the collection states he was a “key player in the Baja California’s literary Renaissance of the 1980s”, creating context for me as I had never heard of Muñoz’s work before reading this collection. The diverse spread of poetry provides a portfolio to those who have no or little experience with this poet’s works.