An Assessment of an Ordinary Man

In April 1991, Rafael Valdivieso commenced composing this poetry collection, which has accompanied him throughout all these years. It had become the silent witness to his manner of comprehending the complex reality of this nation's history. In April 2020, amidst the COVID pandemic, he experienced the urgent necessity to conclude this unruly and perturbing text and, definitively, "take stock": 'An Assessment of an Ordinary Man'. Within these poems, he addresses the most significant dimensions of his vital experience and his inner world: poetry, that peculiar tool he employs to relate to himself and to the life flowing around him; the utopia of the common good, the conviction that, collectively, we could construct a better world; transcendence... or how to confront that inevitable and necessary transition of having to cross the thresholds of death; and love, the sentiment that grants human beings their true dignity... above all, when one must accept that "it cannot be." Rafael Valdivieso was born in 1964 in Piñel de Abajo (Valladolid). Since 1969, he has resided in the Belén neighborhood, in the capital of Valladolid. All indications suggest this shall remain the case for the remainder of his life... In the mid-1970s, the "red priests" of the Pilarica district spoke to him of Antonio Machado and Miguel Hernández. It was the first occasion upon which he experienced the emotion and beauty of a poem. In 1983, at the Leopoldo Cano Institute, a poet, Julio López, his literature professor, assisted him in opting for Hispanic Philology, which he subsequently studied in Valladolid. Around that time, he began to undertake writing seriously in order to respond to his necessity to express: that which occurred to him and he could articulate to no one; that which occurred to him and he did not know how to articulate; that which he did not know was occurring to him... In the summer of 1988, he commenced working in the social services across various neighborhoods of the city. Direct contact with the harsh reality of numerous humble individuals profoundly altered his manner of understanding the world. In 1991, he published a book of poetry, 'Papel de envolver'. Since then, he has finalized several unpublished poetry collections; the most recent being: 'Luz en la ladera' (2021) and 'Hombre va' (2022).