francisco toledo shaped oaxaca city with the dreams of his hands.
he was a painter, sculptor, and activist whose footsteps echo in many of my favourite places in oaxaca.
he was the founder of the instituto de artes graficas de oaxaca, which houses over 60,000 books about art, mainly donated by toledo.
he also founded the art center of san agustin, in etla, which functions as a huge cultural center.
he participated in the creation of the museo de arte contemporáneo de oaxaca and the jardín etnobotánico de oaxaca.
when i am in mexico i feel most at home in these places that are part of his legacy.
even though many of these poems are written throughout mexico, and not just in oaxaca, toledo was often on my mind.
this collection was written over a period of 6 weeks in 2022, in merida, san cristobal de la casas, and oaxaca.
this collection is a warm up for my next set of poems which will focus more directly on the influence of toledo
on my experience of mexico. i hope you enjoy sipping from this cup.

all images photographed on a nikon fm2 with portra 400.