CASSANDRA REVELES: ENCHANTED AIR
The free verse novel that I chose to read is Enchanted Air by Margarita Engle. I am not yet done with the book but from what I have read I can relate to this book in many ways. I like that each page of the book shares her thoughts and give a good description of her surrounds. She makes me wish for a tropical farm with the enchanted air that is so blue and refreshing. She mentions traveling to Cuba and being free. She leaves half of herself every time she leaves. I cannot relate to this more, that’s my exact feeling when I have to leave Mexico. She also struggles with her identity and feeling a bit left out when comparing herself portraits to her mothers and sister, I guess they look more Cuban and she has her American father’s eyes.
As I read this book, I will say that some pages kind of role off my tongue and others are a bit difficult to read. There are certain stanzas of only one word per line. I am not sure how to read them. I don’t know if my pauses are too long or if I should put more emphasis on each word. I wish this was the type of poetry books we would have read back in school. They seem not as scary to read, understand and write.
So much depends
upon
pieces of paper
the color of green
with numbers
that gives it
value
–Cassandra Reveles
3 Replies to “CASSANDRA REVELES: ENCHANTED AIR”
You did great!
I love the imagery she uses to describe the island, it really takes you away to the dreamland she is envisioning. I also feel that this would be such a fun way to introduce poetry.
That sounds a lot like the book I’m reading, Brown Girl Dreaming. It’s tough when you feel as though you belong in more than one place. It’s almost like it tears your identity into two pieces between the places and you experience each place differently. I feel the same way about the poetry being smooth sailings in some places and choppy in others. I find that they have different kind of effects while reading them. Great poem! I often laugh at the thought of money having so much value when it’s really just paper!