When I arrived in Cuba, a man attached himself to me
his hands were strong; his eyes aggressive
When I arrived in Cuba, the breeze confused me
women stared, their smiles patched with gold
When I arrived in Cuba, I did not feel sad
I breathed free air, but a man spoke
of liberty
he taught me what I had not seen.
When I arrived in Cuba, I found another man
with the face of a boy
he searches; he dances in the ruins; he speaks of
being
always
on the margins
in his house, he is not a complete man
When I arrived in Cuba, the streets had games
and rules
I understood a little
When I arrived in Cuba, I did not get lost easily
it was with great effort that I got lost
When I arrived, I distributed gifts
people accept a favor, a gift, a hand
without questions
When I arrived, it was an island, a city, a barrio
When I arrived, I asked if they had squirrels
When I arrived, I dreamt of standing
on a balcony to admire the stars
there was no balcony
I fell for a little while
it was not an unpleasant experience
Soon I saw I was not foreign
I have been hungry
I have accomplished much
with little
I know how to sing and argue
I want to stay home
and see the world too.
© Odilia Rivera Santos
To know more about Odilia, become a fan of her Facebook Author Page or follow her on Twitter.
Hola, Julio. I’d love for Odilia to consider submitting some of her obras to Somos en escrito (www.somosenescrito.blogspot.com) so we could share her talents with more of our friends. My email is somossubmissions@gmail.com.
Hasta pronto.
Armando Rendon, Editor
Cool!