Pedro Pietri: 'Puerto Rican Obituary' — Complete Analysis

Pedro Pietri's 'Puerto Rican Obituary' (1973) is the single most important poem of the Puerto Rican diaspora — a funeral oration for the dreams that colonialism murdered.

The Poem

'Puerto Rican Obituary' is a long narrative poem that follows five Puerto Rican characters — Juan, Miguel, Milagros, Olga, and Manuel — through lives of labor, poverty, and unfulfilled dreams in New York City. Each character dies without achieving the American Dream they were promised.

Key Passages

The poem's refrain lists the dead:
'They worked / They were always on time / They were never late / They never spoke back / when they were insulted / They worked / They never took days off / that were not on the calendar / They never went on strike / without permission / They worked / ten days a week / and were only paid for five'

And the devastating conclusion about what they died for:
'They died / dreaming about america / waking them up in the middle of the night / screaming: Mira Mira / your name is on the lottery list / of the next flight to san juan'

Analysis

What the Poem Documents:
1. The false promise of the American Dream for Puerto Rican migrants
2. The exploitation of Puerto Rican labor in mainland service and manufacturing jobs
3. The spiritual death that comes from abandoning one's identity for colonial assimilation
4. The persistence of the dream of return ('the next flight to san juan')
5. The way colonialism kills not just bodies but souls

Literary Significance: 'Puerto Rican Obituary' established the Nuyorican literary voice — a voice that was simultaneously angry, mournful, humorous, and defiant. It proved that the Puerto Rican diaspora experience was worthy of serious literary treatment and that the language of the streets (Spanglish, vernacular English) was a legitimate literary medium.

Political Impact: The poem was performed at rallies, community centers, and political gatherings throughout the 1970s. It became the unofficial anthem of the Nuyorican movement — a call to wake up from the colonial dream and reclaim Puerto Rican identity.

Historical Context

Pietri wrote 'Puerto Rican Obituary' in the context of:
- The Young Lords movement (1968-1976)
- The Nuyorican Poets Café (founded 1973)
- The post-Great Migration generation: children of migrants who saw their parents' dreams unfulfilled
- The broader anti-war and civil rights movements

The poem remains relevant because its analysis remains accurate: the colonial system still promises Puerto Ricans prosperity in exchange for assimilation, and the promise is still unfulfilled.