Tweetspeak Poetry

  • Home
  • FREE prompts
  • Earth Song
  • Every Day Poems—Subscribe! ✨
  • Teaching Tools
  • Books, Etc.
  • Patron Love

Poets and Poems: Victoria Maria Castells and “The Rivers Are Inside Our Homes”

By Glynn Young 2 Comments

waterfall Castells

Victoria Maria Castells: An ancestral homeland still shapes lives

On my mother’s side of the family, I am five generations removed from any immigration experience. On my father’s side, it’s six. Family ancestry wasn’t a significant topic of conversation on either side, except for an aunt (mother’s sister) and a cousin (father’s niece) who traced family genealogy. What this suggests to me is that families on both sides were shaped more by the land they came to rather than the land they left.

But the past is never really the past. I may not know how Great-Great-Grandmother Wetzel’s Teutonic obsession with cleanliness was passed down through the generations, but when my oldest son bathed his hands in teething biscuit, it was close to a catastrophe in my mind. (The phobia stopped there; he still doesn’t care about messy hands.)

Victoria Maria Castells is a second-generation American; her parents came from Cuba. All three still feel strongly shaped by “the island.” Cuba evokes strong passions, and it’s difficult to find anyone without an opinion. Those passions and feelings often flow freely, and that’s perhaps why she named her new poetry collection The Rivers Are Inside Our Homes. Geography may change, but homeland remains a strong influence.

Castells writes of Cuba and its politics. She writes of hurricanes. She ponders the Hispanic names in an American cemetery. She compares events in Venezuela to what happened in Cuba. She looks at a cookbook and sees both cultural dislocation and opportunity. And she compares the old homeland to the new.

Migration

The Rivers Are Inside Our Homes CastellsHavana and Miami,
double paradise.
To have and not have at all.

So how to explain, English and Spanish
roasted together as one, hot and pleasing,
our beaches under a distant portal, time
rupturing and hurricanes passing between
like forgotten family members, while buried
is the carcass of boats among us.

Until how long is it 50 more years or if the continents
could seize together, a collision of capitals; to exit
la Torre de la Libertad, which clothed my mother
in Miami, and find yourself small under el Cristo
de La Habana, grand Jesus on the hilltop, tremors
cleaning the bloody waters so the drowned ghosts
of our immigrant ocean could unwind their deaths
and talk to the living once more.

Victoria Maria Castells

Victoria Maria Castells

Her poems pulsate with energy and imagery. Although carefully constructed, the poems seem almost stream of consciousness, image after image incorporating each other and building toward a final image or idea. You might also compare her poems to diving into the deep end of a pool, finally surfacing for air with a sense of exhilaration.

Castells received her MFA degree from McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The Rivers Are Inside Our Homes received the Notre Dame Review Book Prize and is published by University of Notre Dame Press as part of that series. She lives in Miami, Florida, where she teaches creative writing.

This is a poetry collection you can read in small sips or down in one large gulp. For a double reward, try it both ways. It’s an amazing collection.

Related:

Notre Dame Press interviews Victoria Maria Castells

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Glynn Young
Follow Glynn
Glynn Young
Editor and Twitter-Party-Cool-Poem-Weaver at Tweetspeak Poetry
Glynn Young lives in St. Louis where he retired as the team leader for Online Strategy & Communications for a Fortune 500 company. Glynn writes poetry, short stories and fiction, and he loves to bike. He is the author of Poetry at Work and the Dancing Priest Series. Find Glynn at Faith, Fiction, Friends.
Glynn Young
Follow Glynn
Latest posts by Glynn Young (see all)
  • Poetic Voices: Jessica Gigot and the Land - October 3, 2023
  • Do You Remember the First Poetry Book You Bought? - September 26, 2023
  • Poets and Poems: Yvor Winters and “Selected Poems” - September 19, 2023

Filed Under: article, book reviews, Books, Poems, poetry, poetry reviews, Poets

Get Every Day Poems...

Comments

  1. Bethany R. says

    August 12, 2023 at 2:21 pm

    “double paradise.
    To have and not have at all.”

    Love the simplicity and complication in these few words.

    Reply
  2. Meghan Perez says

    October 1, 2023 at 1:39 am

    What i don’t understood is in reality how you’re now not really a lot more smartly-favored than you might be now. You’re very intelligent. You understand therefore significantly in terms of this topic, produced me personally believe it from a lot of numerous angles. Its like women and men are not interested except it is one thing to accomplish with Woman gaga! Your own stuffs outstanding. Always care for it up!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

For the Writer in You

Take How to Read a Poem

Get the Introduction, the Billy Collins poem, and Chapter 1

get the sample now

Welcome to Tweetspeak

New to Tweetspeak Poetry? Start here, in The Mischief Café. You're a regular? Check out our October Menu.

Patron Love

❤️

Welcome a little patron love, when you help keep the world poetic.

Your Comments

  • Bethany R. on From A to Z, the Abecedarian Isn’t Just for Chaucer—Poetry Prompt!
  • Lois Perch Villemaire on From A to Z, the Abecedarian Isn’t Just for Chaucer—Poetry Prompt!
  • Lois Perch Villemaire on From A to Z, the Abecedarian Isn’t Just for Chaucer—Poetry Prompt!
  • L.L. Barkat on From A to Z, the Abecedarian Isn’t Just for Chaucer—Poetry Prompt!

Join the Year of the Monarch

How to Write Poetry

Featured In

We're happy to have been featured in...

The Huffington Post

The Paris Review

The New York Observer

Tumblr Book News

Stay in Touch With Us

Categories

Learn to Write Form Poems

How to Write an Acrostic

How to Write a Ballad

How to Write a Catalog Poem

How to Write a Ghazal

How to Write a Haiku

How to Write an Ode

How to Write a Pantoum

How to Write a Rondeau

How to Write a Sestina

How to Write a Sonnet

How to Write a Villanelle

5 FREE POETRY PROMPTS

Get 5 FREE inbox poetry prompts from the popular book How to Write a Poem

Shakespeare Resources

Poetry Classroom: Sonnet 18

Common Core Picture Poems: Sonnet 73

Sonnet 104 Annotated

Sonnet 116 Annotated

Character Analysis: Romeo and Juliet

Character Analysis: Was Hamlet Sane or Insane?

Why Does Hamlet Wait to Kill the King?

10 Fun Shakespeare Resources

About Shakespeare: Poet and Playwright

Top 10 Shakespeare Sonnets

See all 154 Shakespeare sonnets in our Shakespeare Library!

Explore Work From Black Poets

About Us

  • • A Blessing for Writers
  • • Annual Theme 2022: Perspective
  • • Annual Theme 2021: Generous
  • • Our Story
  • • Meet Our Team
  • • Literary Citizenship
  • • Poet Laura
  • • Poetry for Life: The 5 Vital Approaches
  • • T. S. Poetry Press – All Books
  • • Contact Us

Write With Us

  • • 5 FREE Poetry Prompts-Inbox Delivery
  • • 30 Days to Richer Writing Workshop
  • • Poetry Prompts
  • • Submissions
  • • The Write to Poetry

Read With Us

  • • All Our Books
  • • Book Club
  • • Every Day Poems—Subscribe! ✨
  • • Literacy Extras
  • • Poems to Listen By: Audio Series
  • • Poet-a-Day
  • • Poets and Poems
  • • 50 States Projects
  • • Charlotte Perkins Gilman Poems Library
  • • Edgar Allan Poe Poems Arts & Experience Library
  • • William Blake Poems Arts & Experience Library
  • • William Shakespeare Sonnet Library

Celebrate With Us

  • • Poem on Your Pillow Day
  • • Poetic Earth Month
  • • Poet in a Cupcake Day
  • • Poetry at Work Day
  • • Random Acts of Poetry Day
  • • Take Your Poet to School Week
  • • Take Your Poet to Work Day

Gift Ideas

  • • Every Day Poems
  • • Our Shop
  • • Everybody Loves a Book!

Connect

  • • Donate
  • • Blog Buttons
  • • By Heart
  • • Shop for Tweetspeak Fun Stuff

Copyright © 2023 Tweetspeak Poetry · FAQ, Disclosure & Privacy Policy

We serve poetry with our cookies. Because that's the way it should be.
We serve poetry with your cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you... accept the cookies with a smile.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
update cookie prefs

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT