The Black Bellybutton of a Bongo

The blue-eyed grandmother
    blue-black ears
used to tell tales of boogie men
    of black boogie men
Stories of embroidered linen
    white sheets
    virginal sex
    secrets of pots and beans
    magic wand to cook good fortune
I lost my crystal slipper in the dust
And the prince did not soothe my bruises
Later it was all about cactus--no tulips--
In the time set for war, grandmother
Your stories slid down my skin
    -black not trigueña, grandmother
    -woman not doll, abuela
Thunder came and lightning frayed the island
    -it was the drum-
    -cynical laughter bursting in curls
    tough curls fighting chemicals
    singing kinkily and happily in the air
Black mellow dark beautiful majesty
I stared it in the eye
    a wide and indivisible geography
Since then I am a doubt planting questions
    sharp arrow is my tongue
    my entire body
Before the rust I found my voice
    my eyelashes dusted time
I am a heroine in the jungle, grandmother
    I see the night patrol
        the palm trees
            the fire
        Yemaya with her belly made of water
            the areito
                Yocahu-vagua
a little black girl prays for water
the baquini multiplies flags
the box of many colors, did you forget it, abuela?
The hand closed to your bones
    shakes a spring of twigs
    -don't be afraid, abuela-
Lemba greets you kindly.

Marianela Medrano, born in the Dominican Republic, has been living in the United States for the past 10 years. Her poetry has appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies in the United States and the Dominican Republic. She is the author of Oficio de Vivir, Los alegres Ojos de la Tristeza, Seis mujeres poetas: homenaje a Salomé Ureña, and, in 1998, Seleccion Regando Esencias [The Scent of Waiting], a bilingual poetry edition.

This poem also appeared in Tertuliando/Hanging Out (1997), an anthology published by the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute. Reprinted by permission of the author.

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