Published in 1918, Salomon de la Selva may be the first Latino poet published in the US and is certainly one of the first Latino authors published in the US--period. Though Nicaraguan-born, he was US-trained and thus learned to navigate--and found moderate success--in both the yanqui and Latin American literary scene. Stylistically, his verse reads like his romantic contemporaries, which means he feels like a Longfellow knockoff. Topically, he occasionally bares his teeth, discussing his homeland from an overtly political perspective. Contemporary readers may find even these poems hampered by the style and inconsistent politics. He occasionally longs for white girls--whomst amongst us has not? According to this collection, his deepest darkest secret is that he once made love to a tree, surely and hopefully in the romantic sense and not the pornographic. I recommend this book to those with a historical interest in Latino authors and Central America, but few others. 2 out of 5.