House of Houses

by Mora, Pat

• ISBN13: 9780807072059
• ISBN10: 0807072052
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-02-01
• Publisher: Random House Inc

Summary

House of Houses is Pat Mora's dreamy reconception of the Day of the Dead. Rather than just a few hours, we experience a year in an imaginary home, redolent with the tastes, smells, sounds, and stories of Mora's Southwestern childhood, where the dead walk and talk among the living. "[A] richly sensual family memoir. . . . A feast. Pat Mora is an eloquent bearer of the old truth that it is through the senses that we appreciate love." -Janet Perry, The Washington Post Book World

Author Biography

Pat Mora, award-winning poet and author of nonfiction and children's Books, is also author of Aunt Carmen's Book of Practical Saints, Agua Santa: Holy Water, and Nepantla: Essays from the Land in the Middle. She divides her time between Santa Fe, New Mexico and the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xv
House of Houses Ut rosa flos florum, sic est domus ista domorum. As the rose is the flower of flowers, so is this, the house of houses	1	(291)
Enero friolero / Chilly January	14	(30)
Febrero loco / Crazy February	44	(25)
Marzo airoso / Windy March	69	(30)
Abril lluvioso / Rainy April	99	(23)
Mayo / May Enero friolero, febrero loco, marzo airoso, abril lluvioso, sacan a mayo, floreado y hermoso. Chilly January, crazy February, windy March, rainy April bring on the beauty of flowering May	122	(23)
Junio / June Huerta sin agua, cuerpo sin alma. An orchard without water is like a body without a soul	145	(18)
Julio / July Al que buen arbol se arrima, buena sombra le cobija. Seek shade under a worthy tree	163	(21)
Agosto / August Goza del mes de mayo que agosto llegara. Revel in May, for August soon arrives	184	(27)
Septiembre / September De lo hermoso, hermoso es el otono. To speak of lovely, speak of autumn	211	(22)
Octubre / October La que anda entre la miel, algo se le pega. Honey clings if you're surrounded by it	233	(20)
Noviembre / November La primavera se hace ligera, el invierno se hace eterno. Spring breezes by, while winter seems eternal	253	(19)
Diciembre, mes viejo que arruga el pellejo December, old month that wrinkles our skin	272	(20)
Dichos / Sayings	292