POET'S CORNER: In a recent essay that appeared in The New York Times Book Review, Philip Lopate chastises an entire generation of poets for "abandoning onerous individuality," and merging "prematurely with the collective ethos. The result is that we do not encounter that many quirky, uniquely voiced individuals in poetry today. What we do encounter are a lot of half-baked sages, speaking piously for their tribal or communal sliver." Ouch. His severe assessment wouldn't hurt so bad if it weren't so accurate. There is far too much mediocre pop-poetry in print today. Too often, only the scaffolding of the poem has been left standing. The reader almost hears the snare drum and cymbal signaling the "pay-off" of the poem. Lopate is careful not to condemn all contemporary poetry. There are exceptions to his vision of the state of American poetry, one of the most notable of which is the poetry of Martín Espada, whose fifth book, Imagine the Angels of Bread: Poems has just been published by Norton. There's nothing lackluster in this startling new collection exploring the personal politics of being Puerto Rican and of being--if not disenfranchised--obscured by the laminations of race, class, culture and profession. "Called the Latino poet of his generation," Martín Espada was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1957. He's published four other books of poetry: City of Coughing and Dead Radiators (Norton, 1993); Rebellion is the Circle of a Lover's Hands (Curbstone, 1990); Trumpets from the Islands of Their Evictions (Bilingual Press, 1987); and The Immigrant Iceboy's Bolero (Waterfront Press, 1982). He's also the editor of Poetry is Like Bread: Poets of the Political Imagination (Curbstone). His awards include two fellowships from the NEA and a Massachusetts Artists Fellowship. Many of his poems arise from work experience ranging from bouncer to tenant lawyer. Currently he teaches creative writing and U.S. Latino poetry in the English Department at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The poetry of Martín Espada is a welcome reminder that there's a deep end to the pool of contemporary poetry, that there are issues larger than ourselves that affect us. Espada shows poetry can still be powerful, can still give the reader something that resonates long after the book has been set aside and the cares of the day resumed...a resonance that extends beyond the bland, collective ethos Lopate laments. Martín Espada will read from Imagine the Angels of Bread: Poems ($18.95), from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, October 12, at Borders Books and Music, 4235 N. Oracle Road. Call 292-1331 for information.

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