“Hakim Bellamy, Albuquerque’s inaugural poet laureate, has quickly become an inspiration and a luminary for a generation of poets rising from the Duke City. Commissions y Corridos, flowing with his passion, lived experience, and transcendent perspective, validates his ascension to our pantheon of legendary storytellers in the Land of Enchantment.”—Tim Keller, Mayor of Albuquerque, New Mexico
“These poems are powerful statements that bleed with the blood and grit of having been and seen and felt and lived and died. They have been reborn to tell and to speak, to orate that which must not be forgotten. Hakim Bellamy’s collection is a corrido for the senses. It is a song of remembrance and honoring. Like a corrido it has an entrada and a despedida, cradling us in the middle, helping us make sense of it all. His love for Burque, his adopted querencia, comes through in every verse. ¡Gracias, hermano!”—Levi Romero, Inaugural Poet Laureate of New Mexico