My Reflection Post- Puerto Rican Obituary

The poem "Puerto Rican Obituary" was very well written. It was definately powerful and attention grabbing. By giving names to the characters it was describing it made these everyday Puerto Ricans more real. It is hard to make a connection to someone called "the woman with ten children," but when you give her a name (Milagros) she becomes a person that you could/may already know. At times the poem had a rythem to it that pushed you to read further, while at other times it had repetition that emphasized a point it was trying to make. It made me feel like I was one of these people by how detailed it got when describing their struggles and dreams. At the end when the characters each started to turn on each other I felt betrayed the way that I'm sure those people would have. The hardships that they were experiencing forced them to fight amongst themselves rather than getting together and fighting back against the system that made them that way. The part about the fortune teller in the middle section was very disturbing. It felt erie to read. I felt that it was out of place in the poem but at the same time I could see where it could fit in. It seemed to me to be trying to get across the point that the Puerto Ricans would take any sign of a turning point as something to look forward to, even if it meant begging their lost ancestors to tell them what number to play in the lottery or simply praying to them to help things turn around. Overall this poem was disturbing and yet eye-opening to the struggles that these people faced, and the ambitions that they worked towards in vain.