El deber del pan by Xavier Valcárcel de Jesús is hitting the presses again. Originally published twelve years ago under the title Libro de pólvora, El deber del pan remains relevant and continues to reach new readers. Anthem of Evaporated Tears is the newly available bilingual edition of Varcárcel de Jesús’s poems set ablaze through Roque Raquel Salas Rivera’s translation. This work is only one of Varcárcel de Jesús’s many poetry projects, which uncovers the ordinariness of violence and austerity. As a Black Puerto Rican writer living in Puerto Rico, Varcárcel de Jesús references life in the archipelago in his works. He portrays his homeland as a place where women, queer, Black, and poor people live in a state of survival.

Through its use of free verse, Anthem of Evaporated Tears proposes an exploration of sexuality, love, violence, family, and gender roles. The poems navigate the entanglements between love and patriarchy first through an extended metaphor of making bread, as well as through the poetic voice’s reflections, experiences, and imaginative scenarios. The book reveals how misogyny and complicity infiltrate the relationships we care about, often resulting in unforgivable violence. Within the short poems of this collection, a touching reflection on the relationship between mother and child leads the poetic voice into an introspective exploration of silence and its ability to replicate violence: “I’ve abused / of my mother’s bread / overeaten. / I’ve sat at the table like a man / waiting for her to serve it.” The poetry collection uses the metaphor of making bread to explore the gendered labor women are expected to perform, particularly that of cooking and serving others. Valcárcel de Jesús attempts to break the cycle by focusing on women’s reality and, in doing so, he critiques the systems that exploit them. Furthermore, by sharing his experiences as a gay man living with the effects of sexism and homophobia, Valcárcel de Jesús offers his solidarity. “I have made the bread. I have eaten. / I’ve been the bread, they have made me, and I’ve been eaten. / You have not been the bread. / You, made by nothing.” After witnessing his mother’s mistreatment, and understanding his role in it, as well as recognizing the parallels with his own experiences, the poetic voice joins his mother in resistance:

The burning house and other household objects reflect Varcárcel de Jesús's use of the elements in his work. In this case, fire grounds his poetry and is used to cleanse the author, the poetic voice, and the readers of the violence depicted in the text.

The poems further explore the concept of familial solidarity, particularly between women. This is evident through the poetic voice’s mother, who seeks refuge at her sister’s house despite her sister’s desire to escape as well. Needing to find refuge elsewhere, the poetic voice considers escaping to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, a sister island: “Which is why I think some day my mother / will burn it all to hell… and then flee, in a tinted taxi / to sleep on cloud nine in a hotel in Punta Cana.” Valcárcel de Jesús highlights how women survive gendered labor and relationships with men in Puerto Rico, while also inviting readers to apply the poems to their own contexts and surroundings. In fact, his work argues for the presence of patriarchal violence in other places by transporting readers from Puerto Rico to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, where the same violence persists. As a Caribbean writer, Valcárcel de Jesús frequently references Caribbean experiences and life in the region. By featuring Punta Cana, the poetry collection draws attention to the relationship between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico—a contentious relationship marked by dangerous maritime migration, racism, and xenophobia. Due to the continued migratory flow between the islands and intermingling cultures, the histories of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic are irrefutably tied. By highlighting the gendered violence experienced on both islands, the poetry book emphasizes the two countries’ similarities, mirroring the relationship between the speaker’s mother and aunt and their need for escape.

The translation work in this piece is phenomenal. Not only does it provide bilingual access to Valcárcel de Jesús’s book, but it also enhances the significance of the original version. Salas Rivera manipulates the verses, allowing readers to gain a deeper and more complete understanding of the poems and the project as a whole. For example, he translates “quemará la casa / y luego huirá, en taxi ahumado” as “will burn the house / and then flee, in a tinted taxi.” While the original verses could simply refer to a taxi full of smoke from the burning house, Salas Rivera’s translation encourages readers to consider a more complex interpretation. The taxi could be tinted or have smoked windows, not necessarily because of the fire, but because tinted windows allow for a swift and anonymous escape, free from the judgement of others. Consequently, the new verses carry multiple messages that enhance, or reveal the original ones. Another way Anthem of Evaporated Tears adds to the Spanish version is through formatting. Because the Spanish and English versions are placed side by side, the movement of the eyes traveling back and forth between them beautifully replicates the migration patterns between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic—a constant to-and-fro that the poetic voice also experiences as he ultimately escapes with his mother. In the end, Salas Rivera portrays the multiplicity of language and meaning, complementing the pieces he translates with evident care and understanding.

Salas Rivera also engages in decolonial practices through his work. He breaks away from traditional publishing by including the original poems alongside his translations, ensuring that the original material is not forgotten. This choice also gives readers insight into Salas Rivera's translation process, which strikes a balance between “signification and stylistic demands” without compromising the author’s message.

Anthem of Evaporated Tears captures the contradictions inherent in human relationships, including tenderness, anger, love, reflection, stubbornness, violence, and care. The work complicates these dichotomies by considering the entanglements of love and violence within patriarchal systems. Even though twelve years have passed since the book’s initial publication, its themes and problems remain relevant in Puerto Rico and the United States today. In recent years, femicides have risen at an alarming rate in Puerto Rico, yet the government has taken little to no action to address the issue, while legislative changes constantly threaten the rights of women and queer people. Similarly, in the United States, recent attacks on women’s and queer people’s bodily autonomy have instilled fear in many. Within these pages, Xavier Valcárcel de Jesús envisions the futures that emerge when one courageously chooses oneself over societal expectations. Doing so makes it possible to push past the silences and suffering, and move forward, even when the evaporated tears cling to the air.