Francisco X. Alarcon started writing poetry when he was 13. "I wanted to transcribe the songs my grandmother used to sing." He sees poetry as an open-ended dialogue, with readers bringing their own meaning to the works. A virtual whirlwind of interests and passions, besides being a leading Chicago poet, Alarcon is an educator, community activist, and gay advocate. For him, none of his myriad activities is separate from the others. "Everything is related,...