90 Incarnations

From the Yadkin to Camagüey
the Virgin of the Andes traveled
her blue & gold robes stained
with the muddy waters

In Cyprus she has a different name
like the Mediterranean sweets made
in the warm baked sun of a stone
underneath a palm’s shade

The women of Andalusia
dressed their children in new shoes,
peasants bought beer cans, preparing
for holy week of feasting

And the roses from Mexica
under the light of a living room altar
no longer glow, and wilt
into forgotten prayers

Sweet Rum

In Cuba
My dad told me
When you’re drinking
(Like I was on El Malecón every night)
You pour the first drop of rum on the ground—
Por los santos

Back home
In the foothills of foreign mountains
He consumed
Ogun’s share of drinks
Offerings of
Apples, roses, cigars and rum
On shell-littered altars
Left on bedside tables

Ana-Sofia Cardelle is a Cuban-American expat currently living in Japan. She is focused on issues of diaspora, authenticity, and 21st century colonization.