“Good afternoon, AM 1230 KXO. I’m Traci Lyon-Ramirez broadcasting. We’ve got some great stuff coming up for you this afternoon. It’s lunch time. Be careful while you’re on the road. It’s right here, AM 1230 KXO.” Lyon-Ramirez flips a switch on the audio board to dull the little red light, and “The Doors” sounds out over the airwaves.

Traci Lyon-Ramirez, on-air at KXO radio in El Centro, Calif., says that DJs live by the clock. "Everything has to be timed right so that there's no dead air." --Photo by Kaylene Sutton

KXO has been on air continuously since 1927 in the Imperial Valley, making it the longest-running radio station in this agricultural mecca of Southern California. Other radio stations have come and gone while KXO has persevered. Locally owned and operated, KXO radio broadcasts on both AM and FM frequencies.  It’s the granddaddy of the few radio stations here.

Much like metropolitan radio, local radio has its stars and its loyal listeners, although it does not necessarily have the stability and longevity like large-city stations have, nor do the jobs in local radio.

The second oldest radio station in the valley, Brawley-based KROP 1300 AM, went silent in April 2010 after 64 years of country music and news/sports talk.  Owner Cherry Creek Radio Corp. moved KROP’s sister FM station, Q96, to San Diego three months before and left KROP without the competitive advantage of a FM station.  Consequently, Cherry Creek silenced the valley’s long-time sports, news and country station KROP.

“It’s sad, but the owners didn’t consider the community when they made this decision,” said Lyon-Ramirez, a 23-year veteran at KXO. Devout KROP listeners must now resort to other methods to get their country music fix. KPLM 106.1 FM, also called the Big 106, based out of Palm Springs 90 miles away, is now the only country radio station that reaches the Imperial Valley, and not always clearly.

Tony Driskill, station manager for KROP and Q96, is now running Q96 from Lake Tahoe, California. Q96 has no disc jockeys in the studio, nor any commercials to interrupt the music. According to Driskill, “It’s all music all the time.”

“In a good month, Q96 would bring in about $100,000 in Brawley,” Driskill said. “In San Diego, it has the potential to make six times that amount.” He estimates that if the station were sold in Brawley, it would have been worth $5 million. In San Diego, it has the potential of selling for $20 million.

But, that doesn’t answer why KROP had to be silenced. “I think the owners made the decision thinking that it would only be off for two days to a week,” explained Driskill. “I don’t think they planned on it being off for this long.”

“There are only so many radio stations,” Lyon-Ramirez said. “Nobody else can go back into Brawley and start a radio station; (Cherry Creek) took the signals.  It’s hard for small towns when they do that. I mean, did San Diego really need another radio station?”

Alex Sykora, also known as DJ Arox, puts together a mix with his disc jockey equipment. Sykora says that he's invested thousands of dollars into his equipment over the years. --Photo by Kaylene Sutton

Only five radio stations are licensed in the Imperial Valley, which makes livelihoods in the industry here hard to nurture.

“The problem is radio is kind of dying out,” said disc jockey Alex Sykora, also known as DJ Arox. “It’s a combination of the Internet age and the fact that there are now more mediums to listen to music with.” Sykora has nine years of DJ experience. He specializes in live shows, although he got his start jockeying at Q96 before he started a nursing education at Imperial Valley College in Imperial.

“I’m going to school for nursing,” says Sykora. “I want a job that actually makes money, something consistent. The entertainment business is too shaky.”

But, Sykora said he loves the live action of radio and private DJ gigs.  “I love sharing music with people,” Sykora said. “When the crowd gets going, it feels like I’m hearing the song for the first time.”

Live private shows for local bars, parties and other events are where most music DJs make their money—not in radio.

Rafeal Moreno, or 'DJ RM in the AM,' was a featured disc jockey at Club Envy in Brawley, Calif. before its closure at the beginning of the year. --Poster art provided by G2design

“I was always very passionate about music and liked to share it with other people,” says Rafael Moreno, who worked at Q96 before it was moved to San Diego County. Then he moved to Power 98 in Mexicali. “It can be an art form and a science to me because you have to learn a lot about electronic equipment, recording, mixing. There are a lot of little details that go into those things.”

Moreno, or as he’s called at the Power 98 station, “DJ RM in the AM,” performs both live shows and on the radio. “I prefer live shows because I get to see my audience,” he said. “But in the radio booth, I get to speak a little bit more. I like getting information out to the public and being entertaining for them.”

Performing live shows comes at a cost. DJs who perform live usually have to buy their own equipment, which can cost about $8,000. “Music costs a lot now,” says Sykora. “Some DJs bootleg or pirate, but if you want the quality sound, you’re going to pay for the track.”

As far as radio old-timers are concerned, the private party circuit and even the Internet will not outlive the traditional information and entertainment of radio.

Norman Germani, 82, a radio announcer for KXO from 1951 to 1955, refuses to believe radio—local or otherwise—will succumb to the Internet.

“After a windstorm here 60 years ago, TV antennas would get knocked over and people would tune into their radio for the news,” Germani said.  “It’s not much different today.  If you lose your Internet, and you will, well, we did in the earthquake, but we had our battery-powered radios for information.”

Norman Germani as a KXO radio announcer in 1952, El Centro, Calif. “The next time a big earthquake hits, do you really think you’ll turn into the Internet when you have no electricity to power your computer or your cell phone?” --Photo Courtesy of Germani Family

But long-time valley radio leader, KXO, was knocked off the air during the Easter Sunday 2010 7.2-magnitude earthquake that violently shook the valley and upper Baja.

“If KXO plays its cards right, they’ll get that auxilliary generator they should have had during the earthquake,” Germani said.  KXO reportedly did not have a back-up generator to counter the power outages leveled by the quake.  Consequently, information about the quake was lax for several hours.

“The next time a big earthquake hits, do you really think you’ll turn into the Internet when you have no electricity to power your computer or your cell phone or cell tower?” Germani posed. “No, you’ll find a radio to get the news.  That’s why radio is superior to the Internet.”

"The Collusion Series," by Imperial Valley teen author Alexandra Lopez, is stacked on local library shelves with classics like "Doctor Dolittle" and "The Call of the Wild." -- Photo by Marisol Diaz

The “Twilight” books, written by Stephanie Meyer, inspired the movie series and a cult following of both readers and movie-goers around the globe.  But during the last decade, that inspiration was not limited to just reading or watching the mythical and unorthodox teen romance stories; inspiration bled over into the minds of young writers, including those in the Imperial Valley.

Often seen as culturally dry as the desert it occupies, the Imperial Valley is home to several young authors who have crafted their own fantasies in the pages of books that are sold on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, at the local bookstore, and can be found in local libraries.  These youthful writers have not experienced the notoriety of Meyer – at least not yet.

Angela Ly, 16, is writing her second novel.  “The book is going to be about a different dimension, but in this world,” Ly said.  “There will be action and adventure, somewhat like Twilight.”  The Brawley High School junior self-published her first book, “Birds to Fly Me to You” in 2009.

Teen author Angela Ly, (right) and her best friend Rebecca Rodriguez look over "Birds to Fly Me to You." Said Rodriguez of her friend being a published author, “I liked her book. But it made me sad in the end.” --Photo by Marisol Diaz

Fantasy adventures like “The Way to Fairyleland” and “The Collusion Series” have sprung from the minds of local teen authors prolifically in recent years.  Publishing house Wandering Sage Books recently released a commemorative edition of “The Way to Fairyleland,” by Belén Ramos, and a third young writer, Alexandra Lopez, is penning her third and fourth books.

But fantasies can spring from just about any source.  Angela Ly, who writes under the pseudonym of Fantasy Angie, decided to write “Birds” as a result of her eighth-grade history lessons.  “I was learning about the war in history class,” she said about the idea for her first book.  The story takes place during World War II and centers around two girls of different ethnic backgrounds and the difficulties of their friendship.

Writing is “a way of spacing from reality,” said Ly, who writes anywhere she can translate her imagination into stories–at school, at home, and even at her mother’s nail salon, where she spends most of her after-school hours.  She said her second book  promises to have “a lot more action and fantasy” than her first, more realistic story.

Just like veteran authors, young writers want to fine-tune their works, draft after draft.  Belen Ramos had similar feelings about her third book—she wanted to make it more “teenage-ish,” according to her brother Omar, although he chuckled that he didn’t know what she meant by that.

Author Belen Ramos (left) and her brother, Omar, attending a Southwest High School musical in El Centro, Calif. shortly before Belen's untimely death. --Photo provided by the Ramos family

Belen Ramos was killed in an automobile accident outside of El Centro in February 2008.  At the time of her death she was writing the sequel to “Fairyleland” and a second draft of her third novel, “The Voice in the Box,” which her brother says the family would eventually like to see finished by a ghost writer. “I think my mom would really like that,” Omar Ramos said.

In the meantime, Belen Ramos’s publisher, St. Louis-based Wandering Sage Books, has released a commemorative edition of “The Way to Fairyleland.”

“I just felt like I had to do it,” said Dave Barlow, owner of Wandering Sage Books.  “There’s really a lot of talent missing in the world, and I think people should read Belén’s book because it’s proof that if you put your mind to it, you can achieve great things.”  The new edition of Belén’s book includes some of her poems and a letter to her parents written shortly before her death, Barlow said.

Barlow’s company, at the time called Emerald Falcon Press, bought “The Way to Fairyleland” when Ramos was only 15.  Her novel later won the publishing company’s “Young Author Award.”

“She tried going for the big publishers like Scholastic,” said her brother, Omar Ramos.  “She didn’t have a literary agent. She did all the lobbying herself. And she was ecstatic when she got the letter that [Falcon Emerald Press] wanted to buy her book.”  The book is about a young girl who accidentally trips one of her father’s inventions and sends her to Fairyleland.

Bonnie Olesh, owner of the Imperial Valley’s only mainstream bookstore, Fifth Avenue Books in El Centro, said she can think of only two local authors who have been published by publishing houses—Belen Ramos and Harold Bell Wright, who wrote the best-selling novel of 1911 and 1912, “The Winning of Barbara Worth,” from his El Centro farm.  Wright’s novel became a 1926 movie co-starring Hollywood legend Gary Cooper.

“When you self-publish, it’s difficult to market, and your target audience is generally only who you know locally,” says Olesh.  “I carry books from local authors as a community service. I don’t expect to make any money for it.”

Teresa Lopez (left), and her author daughter, Alexandra, look over a book from Alexandra's "The Collusion Series" in Imperial, Calif. Alexandra said she will write seven more "Collusion" books. --Photo by Marisol Diaz

Self-publishing, also known as “vanity press,” is the publication of a book at the expense of the author rather than at the expense of a publishing house. Both Angela Ly and Imperial, Calif. author Alexandra Lopez, 15, went the route of self-publishing after trying to find publishers to buy their works.

Ly published her book through Xlibris for about $400.  Her mom, Linda Ly, was a big financial support in that effort.  “Her goal,” said Lee of her daughter’s literary aspirations, “is to be published by Scholastic.”

Both Ly and Lopez, who paid for publishing her book from money she saved, said they have recovered the costs of self-publishing their books through sales.

Lopez’s “The Collusion Series,” books one and two, are sold through Authorhouse.  But she said she doesn’t mind being recognized only locally as a self-published author.  “I just want to write for fun, not so it can be popular or so it can be the next hit series.”  Lopez said she plans to continue the saga with seven more books.  She is also in the process of writing several books unrelated to “The Collusion Series,” which is about two siblings who lose their parents and are introduced to a new family.  The characters are fictional creatures who are confronted with many challenges, but also experience magical adventures, which teach them a lot moral lessons along the way.

“I always knew that she loved to write,” said Teresa López, Alexandra’s mother and a grammar instructor at Imperial Valley College.  “What surprised me was that she was so determined and that she followed through.”

But, Angela Ly has a different goal.  She said she wants to be as successful as the award-winning German fiction writer Cornelia Funke.  “I feel that I’m one step closer to becoming America’s next top writer,” said Ly.

Slab City, just east of the desert berg of Niland, Calif., is home to wanderers and music lovers. --Photo by Melissa Opina

NILAND, Calif.–In a small secluded area on the outskirts of this desert town, a mish-mash of trailers and tents surround a big stage that unites the people of Slab City in a very unique way and brings their musical talents to life every Saturday night.

Slab City is a tiny “town” where there are no bills to pay, no running water or electricity, and when nature calls, you choose your bush.  And yet there are about 50 people who live here year round, even in the harsh summer months when temperatures can reach 118 degrees and “residents” spend a lot of time cooling off in nearby irrigation canals.

“Most of the people who live out here in Slab City have lost their home, money, and family, so they have nowhere else to go,” said Sean Paul, a U.S. Army combat veteran. “I can eat out of a can. I am used to this, but a suburban American might find living here a challenge.”

Paul said he arrived in Slab City about 13 years ago and he chose to stay because life at the Slabs is free. (Story continues following slideshow.)

The music is especially free, and easy.  Every Saturday night when the sun sets, Slab City becomes an ampitheater under the clear, starry skies and against the backdrop of the Chocolate Mountains that may just echo the tunes of Jimi Hendrix, Grateful Dead, and Jefferson Airplane, among other artists of the hippie era.

Anyone and everyone with an instrument and/or a voice is invited to perform on Saturdays—winter, spring, summer and fall.

During the mild winter months the Slabs can be packed with thousands of travelers from all over the world living out of everything from their Harley-Davidsons to luxury RVs.  It is respite for weary hitchhikers like 24-year-old Alejandro, who asked that his last name not be used, a college student from Spain.

“I am doing a project on how Americans interact with each other,” Alejandro said.  “My friends and I chose this place because this is a different kind of scene than the regular party scene; it’s more a 70s scene.”

Nabila Gaines, a student and volleyball player at nearby Imperial Valley College, attended one Range concert in May.  “ It kind of looks like when we were young how we would put things together just to have fun.  Overall I had a great time, and mostly I felt free.”

David Armenta, 23, looks down the neck of an electric guitar to make sure it is perfectly straight. The slightest bend, he says, will alter the guitar's sound. --Photo by Kaylene Sutton

EL CENTRO, Calif.–When David Armenta was all of 15 years old, with little cash in his wallet and a lot of musical spirit in his heart, he wanted a “super cool” guitar that he could not afford.

But, instead of running to the local music store to put his dream guitar on layaway, Armenta did something different–he decided he would rather make his own guitar.

“I taught myself (to make guitars),” said Armenta, now 23 years old and a communications major at Imperial Valley College in Imperial, Calif.

His first investment was a set of carpentry tools he got for the bargain price of $20 at an auction.

“You don’t need a lot of tools to make a guitar,” Armenta said, pointing to his head. “I guess it’s all in here.  If you can see it, you can make it.”

He then collected wood he found in alleyways to build his first guitar. After reading the book “Electronic Guitar Construction,” by Tom Hirst, Armenta graduated to specialized tools and wiring.

Watch and listen to the slideshow of Armenta and his guitars.  Produced by Kaylene Sutton, Imperial Valley College, for ©2010 Borderzine.com.  (Story continues below slideshow.)

“It worked,” exclaimed Armenta. “At the time I was very religious so my first guitar that I built was cross-shaped.” Armenta said that he wanted to be a rock star when he was younger. “I can play a guitar but I never became the player I wanted to be. I couldn‘t achieve the sound I wanted.”

Armenta uses a jigsaw and table saw to do most, if not all of the cutting of the wood. He draws the lines that he wants to cut on the lumber and “free-hands it,” he said.

To make the control cavities that contain the electric equipment, which he calls  “the mystery of guitar making,” he uses a plunge router. “I don’t know why they haven’t made a horror film out of this but this thing spins at 25,000 rpms. It’s horrible if it gets out of hand,” Armenta said.

Armenta has designed and built eight electric guitars over the last eight years, some of which he has sold for $3,000. His clientele seem to be happy.

Abraham Herrero, said that the guitar Armenta made for him is “a dream come true.” The two met while working at JC Penney in El Centro about two years ago. “I always wanted a custom-made guitar and David delivered,” said Herrero.

Josh Jaime, has commissioned Armenta to rebuild the first guitar Armenta made– the cross-shaped guitar. “That guitar was beautiful. I fell in love with that guitar,” said Jaime. “I’ve seen him work,” Jaime says. “If you’re looking for a regular guitar, go to Guitar Center. If you want a guitar with a lot of time and effort put into it, custom-made just for you, go to David.”

Watch the video of Armenta simulating the creation of an electric guitar.  (Story continues below video.)

Armenta has no plans to make his artistry a career. “Guitar-building is not serious. It doesn‘t make enough money,” Armenta said. “I plan on having lots of kids and then retiring in Paracho, the guitar capital.” Paracho de Verduzco, in Michoacán, Mexico is  famous for the hand-made guitars that are produced there.

He said his career path will likely lead to journalism, a field known for its stress induced by heated competition and harried deadlines. So it’s no doubt Armenta will keep  his guitar-making tools around.

“It gives me a sense of peace,” Armenta said about building guitars. “It’s makes me feel like I’ve found my nirvana.”

The restored grill of a classic 1949 Chevrolet pickup is one example of Lucas Ray’s craftsmanship in metal works. The fabricator says he promises 100 percent original restoration, which can sometimes mean a painstaking search for original parts. --Photo by Paola Villaescusa

EL CENTRO, Calif.–From a typical viewpoint, it’s hard to see the field of welding and fabrication as an art,  because the conventional idea focuses on the production of industrial parts.

“Most people see it as an industry, and it is,” says Scott Baker, a welder and fabrication foreman for EW Corp. in El Centro.  “Even for me it’s hard to see it as a craft sometimes.”

The industrial side of the welding and fabrication business has long overshadowed any notion of welding as an art. When a typical bystander walks into a fab shop, there isn’t much in the way of traditional art—drab pieces of metal, drills, and complicated machinery take up most of the space.  Those in the fabrication world are usually not the type that are into the arts.  In fact,  West Coast Choppers CEO Jesse James, one of welding’s most famous faces, is known as a tough-talking bad boy.

But the guys wielding those fiery torches on sheet metal

Lucas Ray welds a truck frame in his Asphalt Ripper Rods and Kustoms shop in El Centro, Calif. The gases used to heat the metal are what cause the blue flashes.

at shipyards and auto body shops are not just a bunch of gearheads–they are artists with a passion and creativity as ancient as metal working itself.

“I might see it as just a job sometimes,” says Baker, “but the craftsmanship is what keeps me coming back.”

The wide world of welding and fabrication is a constantly evolving one that includes areas such as industrial parts, sculpture, infrastructure, and custom vehicles. There is work available for a fabricator in a geothermal plant or at a metal design shop. A fabricator can rapidly advance his career and increase his pay in a short period of time.

Yet, some welders and fabricators prefer to focus on the creative nature of their trade. While Jesse James enjoys the fame welding has brought him, he points out in a Maxim interview that he “could make $10 million and it wouldn’t be as fulfilling to me as making a perfect weld. Nothing replaces that feeling. I mean, when the weld is perfect, it’s an awesome and beautiful thing. It’s soulful.”

Metal wall-hangings of classic autos, flames and even holiday decorations at Axis Metal Design in El Centro, Calif. are examples of fabrication art custom-made by means of a computer-generated image that is formed by a plasma cutter. –Photo by Paola Villaescusa

A perfectly executed weld, with its overlapping circles and metallic rainbow colors, is easy to admire—fluid, seamless, attractive. The process itself is exciting—a fireworks display of multicolored sparks or flashes of light from the variety of gases used to heat the metal. Silvery metal shavings surround the work area, glittering in the bright light of the shop.

“To me, it’s art,” said Lucas Ray.  “Every car I restore and build is a different work of art.”  Ray is the owner of Asphalt Ripper Rods & Kustoms, a fab shop in El Centro that specializes in restoring classic cars and other custom projects.

“I really, really like cars,” he said with a wide grin. “Cars are like girls, they’re all pretty in their own way. I love restoring old cars into mint condition.”

The creative process, Ray said, is a driving force in just about every fabrication project. The satisfaction of creating a new, sometimes totally unique project is what attracts many to the trade in the first place.

“You’re creating something out of pieces of metal, sometimes scraps,” said Gerald Baker, a former welder and fabricator, “and creating it from the ground up.”  He recalls a

Joey Dollente, a fabricator, welder, machinist, and co-owner of Axis Metal Design in El Centro, Calif., has worked on everything from basic industrial parts to building exotic race cars. He recently invested in a plasma cutter to produce metal wall-hangings that include even Christmas ornaments. –Photo by Paola Villaescusa

memorable project, dubbed a “Jeep/trophy truck/dune buggy” that he and his brother, Scott Baker, custom-designed and finished in 2009.

“It took about six months to complete, and it was such a pain because it was so unique,” Baker said. “It was a one-of-a- kind custom production. I would consider that the best and the worst [project I have worked on].”

Some fabricators specifically name certain projects as their best or worst. But others find they can’t pick and choose as evenly because they love them all the same.

“I don’t pick favorites among any of my projects. They’re all the best to me,” Ray said.

Joey Dollente, a welder, fabricator, and machinist said mastering the art of welding and fabrication takes certain skill and plenty of practice, yet there is nothing like the satisfaction of creating something out of nothing.

“I enjoy all the work I do,” he said. “It doesn’t even seem like work to me most of the time. It’s like I get to come and play with all my toys and make new creations.”

Dollente has explored just about every area of the trade during his 17 years as a fabricator—working on everything from basic industrial parts to building exotic race cars.  His latest venture—Axis Metal Design—is an expansion of fabrication as an art.  With a brand new $60,000 plasma cutter he is making custom metal plates illustrating classic cars, flames and logs, even Christmas decorations.

“You not only need to have the skills, but the vision to be able to visualize a project, see how it will end up, and put it all together, like a puzzle,” Dolente explained. “Some of the pieces [that create the puzzle] are art, some of it is skill, but there’s always something different coming up, something unique. I dig it.”

Watch video of a plasma cutter creating art:

Aerial view of Imperial Valley College in 1959

However, there seems to be a mixture of emotions among students on campus. Some are apathetic about the future and current renovations being done, and others only seem to be counting the days until they’re able to move out of the valley.

Michael Gurrola, 20, remembers his first time seeing the campus. “I was about or 13 years old, and when I saw IVC, I thought to myself, ‘I never want to end up here.’” Now a second-year student at IVC, Gurrola doesn’t feel so bad about attending, although he does still wish it was closer to his house in El Centro. “This place isn’t that bad,” Gurrola says. “If they [the administration] do what they plan, the students will be in good hands.” But when asked how he feels about campus growth, Gurrola admitted, “It would be cool to see if the campus grew, but I don’t think I’ll be around to see it.”

Aerial view of IVC 50 years later in 2009

Others feel the same way. Daniel Jimenez, 19, of El Centro, says the new science building is “a waste of money” since he says he doesn’t like science. “And I won’t be here to see it. I’m moving to LA as soon as I can.”

Alejandra Mendez, an 18-year-old from El Centro, wasn’t as negative as her friend Jimenez, as they sat beneath the shade of a tree by the backside of the College Center. “It’s good that it will have more opportunities, but everything is so spread out, I hate walking so much.”

Just recently, this reporter was able to sit down to chat with the first teacher to ever be hired at IVC. Harold Richwine still works at the college, teaching a couple PE classes here and there. The following slideshow features Richwine’s talk about the history and evolution of IVC, along with some snapshots showing just how much the campus has changed in the past 50 years.

There are generally two types of people on campus today: those who are attending classes to get their Associate of Arts degree and then move to another town; and those who will be spending more than just two years in the valley. Everyone in the school administration falls into that second group, so naturally they have a more forward-thinking view about the campus.

Jimmy Sanders, the school architect, has been working extensively to solidify IVC’s place in the future. He battles between finding approval and permitting from the state, and then finding the funding necessary to build or renovate buildings in the future.

“With any major capital project, one of your big obstacles is where to get the funding, and the college has worked really hard the past year to get additional funds, and to get projects in the pipeline,” Sanders says.

Architectural plans for future Imperial Valley College

The “pipeline” Sanders talks about has in it the renovations of the 400 building, and renovations to the 200, 300, and 800 buildings on campus, to bring them up to standard with college classrooms across the state. Sanders and his staff have an idea for the future of the campus, and it comes with an overall price tag of about $190 million.

“This is a vision of where we would like to go, but we have to stay flexible for the financial environment we’re in,” John Lau, Vice President of Student Services said. “If we don’t get the state funding we need, we’ll need to change how we do things.”

In between getting approval and also getting funds from the state, there isn’t much the administration can do to speed along the process of IVC’s renovations, additions and improvements.

But Lau remains optimistic, and he was proud to show the current future plans for IVC as a means of expanded opportunity for coming generations of IVC students.

In the first lines of the Elaina Martinez's poem “Beauty in the Desert” she writes, “And many roses grow their veins around the rigid stones and dirt. Engaging beauty in the Desert.” (Jose Noriega/Borderzine.com)

IMPERIAL VALLEY, Calif. — The U.S. Department of Education in 2003 called the Imperial Valley the most illiterate county in California. Despite that bad rap, however, this desert valley next to Mexico is home to an artistically literate community of young and old poets who say this area gives them uniquely positive and negative inspirations.

“The negative is that the valley is boring, isolated and full of mean people,” said Mark Garcia, 42, a poet from Calexico, “while the positive is that it’s peaceful, slow-paced, and there are some nice people as well.  This is what I call my desert of inspiration.”

Poet Sandra Hernandez, 38, of Calexico writes, “I had precious moments, I had terrible heart breaks, I had arrogance thrown at me… In this deserted paradise I call my home”. The valley people, rather than the vast, lonely desert inspire local poets. “People here are unique and sometimes weird in the choices they make,” Hernandez says.

“Mazes of canals spread all across my home, letting out its scent to remind me of my home,” Mark Garcia wrote in a poem called “Mazes of Canals.” (Jose Noriega/Borderzine.com)

The valley’s small, but close-knit poetry community often meets to share work during open mic nights at the Anazoa Café in Imperial and at the “Open Minds” poetry club at the Camarena Memorial Library in Calexico. And Calexico marks every April as poetry month with a festival that allows local writers to create an anthology that is sold in book form.

There are a lot of talented people in the valley, says Hernandez when asked about the issue of local literacy. The federal 2003 study found that 41 percent of the valley’s nearly 100,000 persons could not read or write at that time. That is an added challenge in teaching poetry, Imperial Valley College English instructor Roberta Bemis said. “When you’re literate you have a better time understanding the meaning, as well as the structure, and literature reference.”

“I stare at the deserted field and begin to wonder when I will reach an end,” Anais Sanchez writes in her journal about the many fields around the valley. (Jose Noriega/Borderzine.com)

Poet Elaina Martinez says, “I mean the kids here do act like they don’t know anything, but I bet deep inside they could learn anything they want. I think it’s part of the trend to be failing school and many kids are following it.”

That is a foreign concept to local poets who started writing poetry at a young age. “I was about 15 years old and I was going through my teenage rebel stage,” Garcia recalls. “At the time, it seemed writing poetry was the only way I could express my feelings and it caught on to me after all these years.”

When Martinez was about 10 years old, she wrote little poems but then she stopped writing for a couple of years. “Then I started writing again when I reached high school. I guess it was the only way I could express my feelings about others at the time.” Martinez said.

Mark Garcia's poem inspired by a dream he had about an old girlfriend. Republished with permission of the author.

“Honestly, I don’t really remember, but I think I was around the age of 14,” said Sanchez. “I’ve been writing so much that I never looked back on it and now, I don’t recall any day when I’m not writing.”