ESPERANZA by El Davíd

BIO

El Davíd is a Nuyorican Poet whose works appear in 2011 “Me no Habla with Acento: Contemporary Latino Poetry”- Emanuel Xavier, & 2008 “Bandanna Republic” - Luis Reyes & Bruce George. He is the 2015 Taino Awards Poet of the Year & author of “Hip Hop Made” “The Outlaw of Poetry” and “Outbursts of Horror” with Manuel A. Melendez. El was a featured performer at the Full Circle Ensemble’s two sold out shows: “Page to the Stage” and “Misconceptions.” He hosted the “Smokin’ Word Open Mic Series” in the Bronx NY and has been the featured artist at many venues in the Tri-State, including the Nuyorican Poets Café and Bowery Poetry Club.  

Esperanza is anxious.

Impatiently waiting for revolution

without lifting fist or sword,

 

expecting love to eradicate hate

and spread like corojo

over blood stained Eshus.

 

Dodges bullets with Azabache,

La mano negra poderosa.  

Pinned with the eyes of Lucia

that block the evil eye

from the innocent.

 

Orchestrates change

through Yoruba Oriki,

dancing for Orishas in la sala

to ritmos Africano.

 

Bata, chekere, cowbell,

resonating within the room.

Agogo bells wake spirits

that mount open cabezas,

riding full saddle in home grown misas

where palmas whip darkness away

from tainted flesh.

 

Hosts Spanglish gatherings

plucking boiled fowl.

Joyous laughter hand in hand

with the seriousness

of preparing foods for the "Gods."

 

Heeds messages

from whispering muertos

over unknowing heads.

 

Works revolution

at Oloricha's Ochas,

where Rican and Dominican cuisines

raise sofrito fantasmas that float

through hot tenement apartments,

enticing Iyawos and family

 

of La Regla.

Dresses thrones with offerings;

altars fit for Kings and Queens.

Concerned but confident

that the works will spark change,

like the winds of Oya.

 

Speaks in foreign tongue,

when the medium hat is worn.

Lives in a humble abode,

where streets are paved

with drugs, guns,

litter and chalk outlines.

 

Liquor stores hustle for souls.

She soul searches liquor stores.

Rum and aguardiente

sprayed past sacred lips.

 

Esperanza seeks revolution.

Finds revolution daily.

Tastes it in ebbos to Oshun.

 

There will be no crucifixion,

just revolution.

Constant revolution.

 

Esperanza rolls no dice,

only leaps of spiritual faith,

earth and universal ashé

The paradigm of revolution.

 

The Acentos Review 2019