What a wonderful feeling to see so many familiar faces during the book launch! What privilege to share my intimate thoughts of Puerto Rico, Caguas, and my infancy with so many friends. Thank you La Grande, and Looking Glass Books for an unforgettable night.
It is so close! The book launch is almost here. Just three days and counting! The birth of Speaking at a Time, Thursday, August 13 at Looking Glass Books. Be there at 6:00 PM. So looking forward to seeing familiar faces.
I sit indoors on a hot day reminiscing on poems of long ago. I see Nicolás young and spry killing a snake as he recites Sensemayá de la culebra. Here are some of the verses that I remember with a tropical cloud of nostalgia in my non-glass eyes:
Sensemayá
Canto para matar a una culebra.
¡Mayombe—bombe—mayombé!
¡Mayombe—bombe—mayombé!
¡Mayombe—bombe—mayombé!
La culebra tiene los ojos de vidrio;
la culebra viene y se enreda en un palo;
con sus ojos de vidrio, en un palo,
con sus ojos de vidrio.
Amelia Díaz Ettinger 