PD2 Izzy T-P; Found Poem

Papa stood

his banker's uniform

dark suit

white shirt

blue tie.

Jumping to hug

clinging longer

thankful

to have him home.

Papa bent down

to give a kiss

a deep breath

the way he smelled

after work.

Cologne

the cigar he smoked

driving home.

Every time a character is introduced, the author often finds great pleasure in describing each unique characteristic that would stand out had their readers been meeting the character in person. Christina Gonzalez definitely holds nothing back when re-introducing Papa to her audience after Lucia had witnessed the horrible shooting of his boss, and the moment feels even more bittersweet when Lucia makes a subtle comment on how she was afraid her father had been invoked with the goings on of the anti-revolutionary bankers. True and clear emotion is expressed, moving the reader to understand plainly how Lucia felt under these circumstances. It seemed she was taking in everything about her father as if that day was the last she would ever see him again, also portraying vivid details about Papa the readers hadn’t yet discovered. This scene may not seem like it could teach much, but there is a deeper meaning behind the otherwise simple moment. In it, the feeling from just skimming the words alone can make one feel upset, let alone living the moment. Placing oneself in the shoes of Lucia gives an empathetic aura; that is, it really makes the reader feel what the character is feeling, and try to figure out what may be the outcome of these strong feelings of the character in the future. However, just because the scene has feeling and was emphasized due to past events involving Lucia’s father, that does not automatically make it the perfect scene for describing empathy. Despite this, simple quotes that show plainly their lessons and meanings are often the weakest, and reading about them isn’t at all entertaining, no matter how high your patience may be. Reading is about learning and dissecting, having fun most importantly. Without complicated scenes like these, everything would be ‘an open book’, and genres such as mystery or science fiction would explain everything right off the bat. No, what we need is complicated scenes like these in order to keep reading interesting, as well as allow us to find true meaning in every ‘shadow-ridden corner’ we find. This is the reason this quote from Christina Gonzalez’s The Red Umbrella will teach empathy to those willing to figure it out.