Permanent Work: Poems1981-1992 by Gabriel Trujillo Muñoz details how inspiration can be found in
all things, no matter how small, nor how much something is taken for granted
that when taken apart it becomes more beautiful. Whether to observe the actions
of humans or the nature that they are surrounded by; Muñoz paints us a vivid
picture with carefully chosen words to give a new perspective of the world.
Time is something that affects all living creatures, slowly
chipping away at life, incidentally, however, this decay adds to the beauty of
creation. With new life comes death, followed by decay, loss, and loneliness. Muñoz shares these emotions with so few of words, painstaking, carefully, perfectly
chosen without muddling the overall ideology or naturalistic tendencies of the
work. "The world/ Offers itself/ And
reverberates/ My eyes/ Perceive/ The clarity of each object" (Dawn, 11).His work transcends a sense of surrealism, this helps Muñoz grasp
the details of the surroundings, taking them apart, bit by bit, and in doing so,
he exemplifies its beauty.
Life is intertwined and tangled with so many constraints,
"The chaos/ To which all living beings/ Belong" (49) we all affect
one another, and influence our surroundings without a conscious effort. Simply living
is enough create, destroy, and stagnate. "Who am I/ To die now/ To live
now/ That everything is over" (12). A progression of human life can be
summarized in so few of words with such accuracy, how difficult it can be to
continue to go on as strongly as before with the same positive mindset.
Muñoz shows us how our lives are our own to create and lead them
through our choices, "I am the alchemist who transforms/ The basest metals
into glowing gold" (41). Only with our own hands can we choose worth of our
existence. Only the owner of their own life can weigh their worth.
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