New Mexico 2050?

A poem by Hakim Bellamy

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I’ve been deep in the books here in Barcelona. For those who are new here, I am studying energy and climate change economics at the Barcelona School of Economics. I will regularly be deep in the books, but worry not - I plan to host guest writers on Complex Effects to help me satisfy my subscribers’ craving for new content. I’m excited to share with you talented political scientists, technological development experts, and, this week, one of New Mexico’s best poets.

I brought a book with me called New Mexico 2050 which opens with a great poem by New Mexican and poet-laureate Hakim Bellamy - who graciously granted me permission to share his poem with you all.

The poem circles many feelings I have about New Mexico - its enduring charm, its vulnerabilities in a changing world and climate, its elusive economic solutions, and the hope New Mexicans have for a better tomorrow.

The book, edited by former US Senator and political science professor at UNM Fred Harris, lays out a series of policy recommendations to help the state navigate a future of drought, rural-urban divides, and income inequality. Each chapter is written by varying respected economists, health care specialists, political scientists, Native American scholars, journalists, and more. I have not yet finished the book, but when I do, I’ll summarize my thoughts on this blog.

Anyways, the poem by Hakim Bellamy is below. Hakim is Albuquerque’s inaugural Poet Laureate (2012-2014), an award-winning author, and a Legislative Fellow at the U.S. House of Representatives. You can learn more about Hakim on his website, where you’ll find more of his poems, and his book-length collections can (and should) be purchased on the UNM Press website.

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New Mexico 2050?

A Prefatory Poem

By Hakim Bellamy

New Mexico has been called
lots of things
by the Upper 48.

My favorite
is “recession proof.”
like some sort of backhanded condiment,
like vinegar, when I ordered chile,
like drought, instead of “desert,”
like climate change for dinner
instead of rain for breakfast.

But “mean”
is not what they mean.
When poor is the new normal,
you can’t feel the economy flatline.
Just like you could not feel it
when it was booming.
Just as the bottom of the ocean
is unmoved

by the waves.

What they meant
is “irrelevant,”
even “insignificant.”
Because we take everything
as a compliment.
Because at 2050,
with the oldest state capital in the country,
we look damn good for our age.

Compared to their Dow Jones Average
we finally appear exceptional,
breaking the curve
one border at a time.

36 years from here,
New Mexico will still be exotic to others
and enchanting to us.

We’ll still be inventing
New names to call ourselves.
Still be creating new races
each and every monsoon season

of love.

New Mexico will always be magic,
Like a horizon-taut canvas
making something out of nothing.
Pulling a rabbit out of the mesa,
waiting for a sign

with both ears to the sky.

Nothing under its sleeve
but sacred heart ink.
Acequia Sangre underneath
its adobe-flavored skin.
Hungry for the snowpack
to finally shed a tear.

As the highways grow
wider and western than the Rio.
As the river banks
collapse like a recession
in vein.

As the scales of justice
leverage us out of poverty
instead of shackling us to it.

As the education system
weights opportunity
over place of worth.

As the sites
become more sacred,
and the sacred
Become more scarce.

New Mexico will endure,
evolve and enchant,
As it has always done.
Under many different names…

and flags.

But what will come
of Nuevomexicanos?

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