Rosabel Cordova Herrera, described as “happy, religious, funny, and strict as a parent” by her daughter Ruth Martinez, wrote poems throughout her life ranging in topic from the power of God to bargain days in Questa. All contained her signature passion for living, with reflections “born from my heart.”
Born April 21, 1916 as Rosabel Juana Payne and known by Rosa to all, she lived almost all her life in Questa, NM, except for approximately 15 years in Grand Junction, CO, where her husband had family and her arthritis fared much better. After the 8th grade, Rosa’s formal education ended and she took care of her ailing adoptive mother. She became an avid reader. Rosa’s middle child of five, Ruth, described her as “making rhyme in conversation… it was her entertainment.” Her spontaneous spoken poetry was frequently accompanied by singing and humming, and seemingly nurtured by her “love of fresh air” that was born through childhood walks on the ditch fields between her adoptive and biological families. She remained very close to members of the two families throughout her life, and nurtured her close family of five children of her own, for whom she delighted in baking daily.
She was married to Liberato (Libby) Lafayette Herrera, owner of the Herrera Sawmill in Questa, where she helped determine costs for milling the timbers that arrived. In Grand Junction, she worked at the state hospital with physically challenged people, learned sign language, and served as a foster grandmother. Rosa spent her last four years in nursing homes in Espanola and Taos, where she taught English to Spanish-speaking staff. She continued to write poetry, including both religious ones and on everyday topics such as breadmaking, until she died, on February 26, 2001.
Both Rosa’s love and loss of family upon moving to Colorado in the early 1970s shines in this poem:
A Tribute to Questa
When I left my motherland
And abandoned my friends,
My children, whom I loved so much,
With pain and sadness.
I brought memories with me
Inside my heart.
They can’t be erased,
Or measured or numbered.
My sorrows and sadness,
If I were to weigh them,
They would be heavier
Than the sands of the ocean.
Time passed,
And I forgot how to cry.
I forgot my lamentations,
Only in my heart I still feel
All those I loved so much.
When will I stop loving them?
Ah, those who I loved
When I was near them
And had the affection
Of their sweet company,
Though I didn’t realize
How much I adored them.
Until a sad day
When I got away from them.
My soul was sad.
I left my family
Early in the morning
My soul was in tears.
That’s what Fate wanted.
That was to be our luck.
We went out on our way
From the shadow of death
And got to the two rivers
Because that was our destiny.
When God freed Israel
From the land of sorrows
He sent his servant Moses
For us as well.
It was Moses that God sent
To the land of enchantment
An eagle with powerful wings
That flies fast
And flies over the sierras
With great love.
Our Lord brought us
To die in this land.
Like a beautiful morning
That announces dawn
That’s how our life changed.
With all our actions
We should be thankful
To whom cares about us.
Where the rivers get together,
A great peace we enjoy here.
When worries come
We should pray
to the God of your parents
He is always going to help.
If you can listen to us
This is the advice that we give you:
Praise the Lord
And love each other as brethren
And you will receive from God
Endless blessings.
Tributo a Questa
Cuando mi tierra dejé,
Y abandoné a mis amigos.
Mis hijos que tanto amé,
Con tristeza y dolor.
Recuerdos traje conmigo,
Dentro de mi coraón.
Que no se pueden borrar,
Ni medir, ni enumerar.
Las penas mi pensar,
Y pesarlas pudiera.
Pesarían aun más,
Que las arenas del mar.
Con el transcurso del tiempo,
Lla se me olvidó llorar.
La se acabó mi lament,
Solo en mi corazón siento.
Las prendas que tanto amé,
¿Cuándo dejaré de amar?
Aquellos quien tanto amé,
Cuando de ellos vivía.
De sus cariños gocé,
De su dulce compañía,
Aunque nunca realicé,
Lo mucho que los quería.
Hasta que un triste día,
De ellos me separé.
Con el almaestristecida,
A mi familia dejé.
Temprano por la mañana,
Y mmi alma se desasía.
Así lo quiso el destino,
Así sería nuestra suerte,
Salimos a nuestro camino.
De las sombras de la muerte,
Llegamos a los dos ríos,
Por que así fue nuestro sino.
Cuando Dios sacó a Israel,
De la tierra del quebranto.
Mando a su siervo Moisés.
Por nosotros también fue,
Un Moisés que Dios mandó,
A la tierra del Encanto.
Aguila de grandes alas,
Cuyo volar es veloz.
Y vuela sobre las sierras,
Con su cariñoso amor.
Nos trajo así nuestro Dios,
A morir en esta tierra.
Como una linda mañana,
Que anuncia el amanecer.
Así cambió nuestra vida,
Todos nuestros procedes,
A quien de nosotros cuida,
Debemos agradecer.
Donde se juntan los ríos,
Mucha paz aquí gozamos.
Cuando lleguen los afanes,
A que hacer quien los males.
Oren al Dios de sus padres,
El siempre lo va a ayudar.
Si nos pueden escuchar,
Estos consejos les damos.
Al Señor han de ensalzar,
Y que se amen como hermanos.
Y de Dios recibiran,
Bendiciones sin sesar.
Rosa’s love of everyday life was depicted in this humorous poem about attending a sale in Questa:
Bargain Days
You won’t believe this, prices were down
I bought two for the price of one.
Why should I bother with such a big crowd
They were turning things over for crying out loud.
So the sale went on as it always does
People were stepping on each other’s toes
Imagine a sale on our path right there in the street
Made some people laugh, some people weep
This is not funny it’s a plain fact
You either have money or you can’t buy this or that.
Días de rebajas
No me vas a creer, los precios cayeron tan bajo
Que compré dos por el precio de un solo tajo.
¿Para qué molestarme yendo con tanta gente?
Revolvían todo y ponían súper mal ambiente.
La venta siguió como siempre andaba.
La gente se apurruñaba y hasta pisotones se daba
Imagínate que vendían cosas en plena calle
Había gente que se reía, otras lloraban al desmaye.
Esto no es gracioso, es un hecho sencillo.
O tienes dinero o no te compras ni un pestillo.
The religious reverence in some of Rosa’s poems began with her being born Catholic. Through her readings, she became a Seventh Day Adventist, and finally a member of the Church of God. According to her family, she became more religious as she aged, and wrote “The Power of God” as one of her last, in June 1991:
The Power of God
Great is the power of God,
And His rolling thunder.
Such are His greatness and wisdom
That the ocean obeyed him.
His powerful thunder,
The clamoring of Heavens.
Who can understand this?
With His majestic voice,
And all that, it’s just
The edge of the ways of
God.
Rosabel Cordova Herrera lived the way of poetry, writing for her own meaning and enjoyment. Although she mostly shared her poems with loved ones, her grandson James (Jaime) Martinez fortunately highlighted a few in several articles written in 2002 for the Taos News a year after her death. Those articles were given to The Questa Del Rio News by Rosa’s son, Ben Herrera, and thus to the community. We are all the richer for their being shared.
Rosa uplifted her love of the land of New Mexico in this poem:
The Land of Enchantment
I talk to you courteously,
My esteemed Redeemer.
Publish these poems,
Born from my heart.
They are my reflections
With my best intentions.
I sit down to reflect
About the sierras in the horizon.
Beautiful big mountains
That are equal to none.
With their amazing peaks
In the land of enchantment.
The morning breeze
I like to admire.
The dew in the fields
That irrigates the beautiful morning.
It irrigates everything, likewise
In the land of enchantment.
My mouth should express
What is inside me.
I can’t overlook
The place I’ve learned to love
The land where I was born
Is the land of enchantment.
June 1978
La Tierra del Encanto
La hablo con cortesía,
Mi estimado Redentor.
Publique usted mis poesías,
Nacidas del corazón.
Son meditaciones mías.
Con toda buena intención.
Me he sentadoa meditar,
En las sierras en el campo.
Montañas lindas copiosas,
Son del aspect sin igual.
Con esas cumbres hermosas,
En la tierra del encanto.
La brisa de la mañana,
Me gustaría admirar.
El rocio por el campo,
Riega la linda mañana.
Riega todo por igual,
En la tierra del encanto.
Mi boca debe expresar,
Lo que está dentro de mí.
No puedo pasar por alto,
Lugar que yo supe amar.
Tierra donde yo nací,
Es la tierra del encanto.
30 de junio, 1978
The poem below, cherished as a favorite by Rosa’ daughter, Ruth due to “its feelings [for my father],” was published in the Taos News (then El Crepusculo) in 1985, shortly after the death of Rosa’s husband, Libby L. Herrera.
Un Tributo para
Libby Lafayette Herrrera
1985
Rosabel C. Herrera
En Febrero el día dos,
Este año en corriente.
Fue un tiempo señalado,
Cuando por orden de Dios,
Mi corazaón fue doliente,
Porque se murió mi amado.
Temprano por la mañana,
Fue el tiempo señalado.
El terminó su carrera,
Sun nombre, Libby Lafayette.
Su apellido Herrera,
Este fue mi amado.
Bien dice la Escritura,
Y lo dice con razón.
Que somos como la flor,
Lo llevamos a la sepultura.
Allí sepulté a mi amor,
Prenda de mi corazón.
Esta vida es un vapor,
Como sombra que declina.
Y pronto desaparece,
Al oír la voz de Dios.
La vida pronto termina,
Y el Decreto se obedece.
Él tuvo mucha paciencia,
En el tiempo en que sufrió.
Grande fue su fee n Dios,
El orar era su creencia.
Hasta el día en que se murió,
Él respetó esa voz.
Yo les digo a mi familia,
Que ellos lo tengan como guía,
Por los ejemplos que dejó.
Y que modelen su vida,
Que puedan vivir sus días,
Como su padre vivió.
Él no se fue para siempre,
Ya debemos el llanto enjugar.
Con toda resolución,
Él se levantará triunfant.
Y nos volverá a amar,
En la primera resurección.
Diremos venga tu reino Señor,
Así como está escrito.
Nuestros labios te aclamarán,
Y se levantará nuestro amor.
Y los que mueren en Cristo,
Todos se levantarán.
