Summer Ends Too Soon
was the last she said. Beautiful
Maria, Ave Maria, Maria dodging
father’s fists—and his. Maria praying
under the table. Maria crooning pain
songs in the bathroom. Maria combing
his sludge out of her hair. Maria
serving masters. Seventeen year
old Maria. Maria: Your Lady
of the Kept Secret. Maria dancing
to his temper. Maria washing
her panties in the toilet. Two
days after graduation, Maria
swaying from the limb. Maria:
sweet purple fruit of his sin.
Ave Maria.
Questions for reading “Summer Ends Too Soon” by Lorna Dee Cervantes
- What does “Ave Maria” mean? Can you explain the allusion?
- What is the relationship between the title and the first line? Why isn’t the first line capitalized?
- Who is Maria in this poem? Can you describe her?
- Why would Maria have to dodge her father’s fists? Why would she croon pain songs in the bathroom?
- Why would Maria comb “his sludge” out of her hair? Why would she wash her panties in the toilet?
- Why does Maria sway from a limb? Why does Cervantes describe her as “purple”?
- How would you describe Cervantes performance of the poem? What does her performance add to our understanding of the poem?
Guide to “Summer Ends Too Soon” by Lorna Dee Cervantes
In her remarks at the Balcones Poetry Prize reading at Austin Community College September 13, 2007, Cervantes said this poem was inspired by a story a friend told her. A high school teacher, he told her the story of Maria, a beautiful 17-year-old high school senior, a gifted writer and one of his best students, who committed suicide by hanging two days after graduation, after years of physical and sexual abuse.
- “Ave Maria” means “Hail, Mary.” This is a traditional Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox prayer calling for the intercession of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The text in the Western tradition is: “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed are thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.” Cervantes alludes to the prayer perhaps to invoke Mary’s intercession so that the girl may be absolved of the sin of her suicide. That the victimized girl and the Virgin Mary have the same name adds to the poignancy, and suggests that Cervantes may mean the comparison ironically, since both are innocent, but Maria is a victim and Mary becomes the mother of Jesus.
- The first line continues the sentence started in the title. The two should be read together. The first word of the first line is not capitalized because it is not the first word of the sentence.
- Maria is a beautiful, 17-year-old high school student who is suffering physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her father.
- Maria’s father is physically abusing her. She hides in the bathroom to avoid his blows.
- Maria’s father is sexually abusing her, and she is ashamed.
- Cervantes explained in her remarks that Maria hung herself from the limb of a tree in her yard. Her face has turned purple due to her death by asphyxiation. The phrase “fruit of his sin” might also remind us of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, by eating which Adam and Eve brought sin into the world which Mary would help redeem by bringing Jesus into the world.
- Cervantes gives a powerful, passionate reading. Her dramatic style and the frequent repetition of “Maria” give the poem the semblance of a prayer, a passionate prayer of mourning.
