The Year the Government Changed

by  Mireya Perez

Conservatives hunted Liberals
don Pablo hides to safe passage
on a steamer to Havana
………………………………la casa en Sincelejo
………………………………oak-guarded
troops trample           …….  cobblestoned streets
………………………………dona Eloida reposes
………………………………newborn sleep
solos                     ………….niños, muchachas
………………………………eleven-year old María
solos
hoof hoofs en la plaza
………………………………“Rapidó, rapidó, por aqui”
………………………………María directs the retreat
………………………………through mango grove
………………………………papayas and chickens
………………………………past the tamarind tree
………………………………flings Spanish bedspread
………………………………to cushion hoist
………………………………of mama, niños
………………………………al patio de don Eusebio
While in front a brave oak groans
smashed refuge

Mireya Perez-Bustillo, born in Colombia and raised in New York, writes poetry and fiction in Spanish and English. In her work she searches for that “other voice” breaking through entrapment and oppression, the fragile markers to unearth more hidden voices. Her work appears in Revista del Hada, Caribbean Review, Americas Review, Diosas en Bronce: Anthology of Colombian Women Writers, Vibe Viva, IRP Voices, among others. Her novel, Back to El Dorado, is forthcoming.