“Weaving futurist horizons with mythical histories, while marrying the grim with the wonderous, Bury My Heart Under the Martian Sky is a collection that will stand the test of time.”

—Pedro Iniguez, Bram Stoker and Elgin Award-winning author of Mexicans on the Moon: Speculative Poetry from a Possible Future

“Bury My Heart Under the Martian Sky is a chapbook collection of things alien on many levels. At times dark, otherworldly, and humorous, the poems are an offshoot of Pérez’s Mexican American/indigenous cultural background. Autobiographical at times, there be Chupacabras, Aztec historical references, mermaloids, the truth about cats, and other mythic allusions. This is a good read all around, and worthy of the poet’s best work.”

— G. O. Clark, author of Tombstones: Selected Horror Poems

“Bury My Heart Under the Martian Sky is a series of haiku ‘crowns,’ collections of haiku that work as a single poem, on fantastical and poignant topics. Pérez tackles both inner and outer aspects of horror, science fiction, and maybe, just maybe, science reality. Like any good haiku, these “crowns” are cause for meditation and discussion. Who gets to go into space and why? What happens when the colonized become the colonizers? And merfolk, well, how do they see our intrusions into what they would see as their ‘lands’? Not all the poems are as serious; there is fun and fantasy, too; still, Pérez finds room for rumination on the more serious ideas of space travel and perhaps colonization, and oh, yes, what to expect when the gods of the Aztecs return ‘As if they ever left . . .’”

— Denise Dumars, author of Cajuns in Space and Mars Maundering

“Bury My Heart Under the Martian Sky is a mesmerizing journey into the realms of the speculative, where the dance of words meets the tapestry of the universe. As the Poet Laureate of Corpus Christi, Texas, Pérez brings forth a unique voice that resonates with the heartbeat of his indigenous heritage. In this scifaiku odyssey, Pérez weaves a poetic spell that stretches from the enigmatic depths of the ocean, where mermaloids sing lullabies, to the ancient landscapes of South America visited by extraterrestrial beings. Each poem is an extraordinary example of science fiction haiku poetry at its finest, blending the familiar with the fantastic, inviting readers to explore the uncharted territories of imagination.”

— Wendy Van Camp, Anaheim’s Poet Laureate Emerita and author of The Planets