In conjunction with the visiting artist workshop in the fall of 2022 and Roberto Torres Mata’s gallery exhibit in the spring of 2023, Poet & Aspiring Author Samuel Vega read his poem, “Treatment Plan.”
Students from CultureWorks and Hope College exhibited artwork from the visiting artist workshop alongside a solo show by Roberto Torres Mata, at Hope College’s DePree Art Gallery. At the closing of the exhibit, CultureWorks and Hope Alum Samuel Vega read his poem Treatment Plan, which touches on themes of community, displacement, family, and belonging. These themes resonate deeply with the work of Roberto Torres Mata, leading us to compile a video, juxtaposing the two art forms. Enjoy the short video linked HERE, and view the extended video and interview of Samuel Vega HERE.
The visiting artist workshop, exhibit, and poetry reading were funded by the Mellon Foundation, in collaboration with the Hope College Department of Art and Art History.
Treatment Plan
To acknowledge the alien feeling,
you must first accept the will to unravel:
Te vengo a decir…
That to you all, my name is System,
System of Surprising Signals.
I burn for the breath,
for the bridge between bloodlines,
for the bonds between boulevards.
I yearn for a newer and more vivid link.
Te vengo a decir…
That routines for you,
are utter odysseys for us.
While today speaks its language:
With its grapples
With its grumbles
With its graces
That preaching half as much for you,
is singing twice as far for us.
Que chamba es
Que chamba es
Que chamba es vivir.
It’s such a job to live and plead,
for theaters and for ears.
Te vengo a decir…
That while you conceal all your
First kisses, new misses, deep hisses,
We are charged with churning oceans,
just to say estoy bien triste,
just to say porque no quepo aquí?
I want to talk to someone,
but do I dare disturb
the gardens upon gardens of ganas
that took generations to tend?
Ni de aqui…
Because I’m not yet fluent in speaking “best policy”.
Ni de alla…
Because it also takes ganas to quell all you perceive.
Ahora que…
We have related to the second-guessing faces
We have rehearsed our reasons and rationales
We have realized the weight of our own untapped righteousness
Ahora que…
Mami and Papi have a chance to sit down,
Abuela and Abuelo are as open as ever,
Now is my shining moment,
to proclaim that my function is beyond a single code.
They cradled me in the era of cuts and scrapes,
but will they garner me amid the age of triggers and ponders?
Familia, will please hear me out?
Familia, will you return to a place where you once believed me?
– Samuel Vega
* “Te Vengo a Decir”: (Spanish) “I Come to You to Say”
* “Que Chamba es Vivir”: (Spanish) “What a Job it is to Live”
* “Estoy Bien Triste”: (Spanish) “I Am Very Sad”
* “Porque No Quepo Aqui?” (Spanish) “How Come I Don’t Fit Here?”
* “Ganas” (Spanish) “Guts” (As in having the guts to do something)
* “Ni de Aqui” (Spanish) “Neither from Here”
* “Ni de Alla” (Spanish) “Neither from There”
* “Ahora Que” (Spanish) “Now That”
* “Familia” (Spanish) “Family”
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