When Giving is All We Have

“I Celebrate Myself” by Walt Whitman (1855)

Whitman’s influence on Rios’s work (which Rios has acknowledged) is reflected in the opening section of “Song of Myself,” where Whitman declares that humanity is essentially a single grand organism—a vision of shared humanity that also drives Rios’s poem. In addition, Whitman’s open verse and use of anaphora anticipate Rios’s form and structure. 

“Human Family” by Maya Angelou (2006)

Like Rios, Angelou creates a spiritual and inspirational feel in this poem, typical of her post-millennium poetry in its reflection of the popularity of Wisdom Literature. Angelou and Rios both call for cooperation and empathy, arguing that we are more similar than “unalike.” 

“The Border: A Double Sonnet” by Alberto Rios (2015)

Published in the same collection as “When Giving Is All We Have,” this poem excoriates cultures that insist on the overriding importance of artificial geopolitical borders that divide humanity. Looking specifically at the Mexico–US border, Rios suggests that national boundaries only separate cultures and create hostility between peoples who share more than they may suspect.