The Poet X

     Before I started reading this novel by Elizabeth Acevedo, I looked at the cover and saw the word "poet." I thought to myself "this will be a challenge." I am not a huge fan of poetry and this is 375 pages full of it. A whole novel. To say the least, I was skeptical. Whenever I think of poetry, I always think of it as something I will find difficult to read and something that will most likely not benefit me to read. I know it's harsh, but that was my experience from high school and even prior to high school. To my surprise, this novel proved me wrong.
     As I was reading, I found myself enjoying how fast it was to read, how easy it was to follow, and how the content pulled me in. This novel is about a teenage girl who is experiencing new thoughts, feelings, and ideas all while under the strict control of her Catholic parents. She is always torn. She is always deciding with three factors in mind-- her feelings, her mom's feelings, and God's feelings. She feels immense pressure to act a certain way in her community and is forced to conceal who she really is. This is a daily struggle for her. I wondered how long she could take this piling pressure before she would rebel or hide any trace of who she really is just to appease the people surrounding her. While I was reading, I thought about how many people are in the same position as her. So many people struggle with issues like this and many could find solace in finding out that someone else is going through a hardship just like them.
     While I was reading, I found a poem that I think a lot of people can relate to. In this poem, called "On Papi," she describes her father's role that he plays in her life. The best way to sum up the poem and her relationship with her father is in the final line. It states, "Just because your father's present doesn't mean he isn't absent" (p.65). When I read this, I thought about how many kids, even adults too, could relate to this line. She feels like her dad is there in her physical life, but always vacant in her emotional life. He is there in their home every day, but he could be a stranger and she would not know the difference. This makes me very sad. It seems like we live in a world now where it is rare that a father is involved in his child's life. I always think about this when I hear children talk about their parents and how they are not around and how I want to do something, anything, to make them feel better.