Call Me Maria

At the end of English class, Mr. Golden tells María to stay after school to work on her poems. She expresses anxiety that she doesn’t “yet have all the words [she] need[s] to make poems” (104). Mr. Golden assures María that she has everything she needs and gives her a gift of a book of poems by Pablo Neruda, which are in both Spanish and English. María reads the book later that day and feels excited about her potential as a poet.

María is relaxing and feeling poetic when her father comes out ready to go to work in his uniform. They have a short conversation in which Papi is unable to listen carefully to what María is saying. He goes to work, and María finishes the poem.

On the weekends, Papi usually performs at rent parties. María says that he wants “to be King of the Barrio” (107), and his musical performances support this idea. Papi sings old songs from the Island to bring people good memories.