Margarita Engle uses verse to depict the story of a young boy entrapped in a life of slavery and abuse, yet liberated by his passion for poetry. Engle makes abstract concepts of mercy, agony, and rescue tanglible to the reader through symbolic motifs of material objects such as feathers, chains, and books. Her writing portrays the viscious horrors exerienced by Juan Francisco Manzano synched with the courageous insistence of hope shared through poetry.My favorite stanzas:
"and these words, strangest of all
strangely easy to understand:
Saber no sabiendo...
To know without knowing...
To know without knowing
a life filled with dreams
heaven unseen
strange faith, strangely real
strangely myseterious fountain of words
source of hope" (Engle, 145)
This novel demonstrates how the element of art functions as a healing source for trauma. Manzano's life is memorialized and readers will leave this text with an increased appreciation and understanding for freedom and language.
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