(after Sonia Sánchez’s “This is Not a Small Voice”)
this is no small isla
you seethis 33 by 100-mile splash of green
this island is large, long, a syncopated song
a sizzling, crimson flamboyán
this is no emerald speck
you seefloating between two swirling seas
Africa & Spain
twirled
Taino DNA
&
new migrations
grew
this is not a flash of light
drifting
in a jet-blacknight
this is loam & cordillera
caña,plantain, cascadesof
calloused hands
this is no small love
you seethis land
of Maelo
El Topo
&
don Rafael
parcha-flavored verse
plumeria-scented breeze
this love is a porous arcof palm trees
pours itselfon balmy skin
like waterfallson obsidian
this love figure-eightsits hips
un locksrusted gates
drips guarapofrom its lips
this loveis where I am
hermana
negrita
mami…
mi amor
you see,
thisisno small love
