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The sixth volume of the San Francisco Poet Laureate Series, Stray Poems opens with Alejandro Murguía's inaugural address, where he stipulates that as the city's first Latino poet laureate he is accepting his post on behalf of his community. He goes on to provide a brilliant and impassioned poetic account of San Francisco’s Native and Latino literary history, stating, "So Latin America fused to the history of San Francisco, and vice versa—San Francisco fused to the memory of Latin America."

What follows is a selection of Murguía’s recent work composed over the past twelve years.

These are poems of the 21st century, written in a combination of English and Spanish—the patois of contemporary America. Angry, rebellious, subversive, sentimental, hip, urban, local, global—these poems stray from academia, the status quo, patriotism—and even God—as all poetry must.