My Mother’s Trousseau: Havana, 1960

She stood in the shoe store holding the purse,

the first purchase of the trip

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Poetry and Tragedy

My father wooed my mother in the summer of 1959, a few months after what the communists call El triunfo de la revolución (The Triumph of the Revolution).

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Rhyming Histories

Anyone who’s been keeping up with the news has seen the footage of people in Havana fighting for water and food. Not since the Special Period of the early 90’s has Cuba faced such a crisis. 

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Stories That Survive Us

My mother died last month. She was ninety-seven, so I can’t say it was a surprise.

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