Reading Notes Week 16: Casa (González), Part A

I really enjoyed this poem by Rigoberto González. I really liked the way he writes, the entire poem was really easy to follow and understand what he is talking about. This poem is all about a house, and the difference between what we think of as a house and the actual structure “without soul”. The poem begins and ends by talking about what a house isn’t. It isn’t something that actually means anything or has any significance other than what we project onto it. Although a lot of good, bad, and indifferent things can happen in a building, that it is not carried onto the next people who dwell in that place next (although some people might argue this). It is simply a structure in which things happen, and does not care one way or another what happens inside of it. He even goes as fear to say “ If you should die inside of me I’ll leave it up to you to tell”(González) to show us how much a house is detached from what is going on inside or out. The poem ends “Take care, you fool, and don’t forget that I am just a house, a structure without soul, for those who patron saints are longing and despair.”(González).

I understand this poem very well, because I view houses the same way. Obviously there are nice houses, but there are also apartments and studios that can be equally as or even nicer, because of who is inside. I spent my entire youth in a two bedroom apartment with my mom and sometimes other family, but it never felt less than because of the love that was there. I’ve never felt sentimental over a house, because although I enjoy some houses over another, I know that it does not matter much either way because of my family that will fill it. What I got from this poem is that a house is just a house and what really matters is the people inside of it, which make it what it actually is.