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We were eating diner
a heartfealt family meal
a red aura asceued throughout
enuced my appeal.

He asked what the meal was called.
I looked and the *** as my mom's voice trailed off,
"Um... meat with sauce"
The deep red chile con nopales
todava existe con todas estas reglas sociales

She softened her toung for colonizer mouths
we were eating our food in her own house
Chile colorado that stained her hands
turned to twisted song that sung a sour dance.

The conversation lasted a few seconds
but to me the thought beckoned
Its call Chile Colorado for it's deep red hue,
like the spilled blood of my ancestors
and I wonder; "What would they do?"

I draw my tortilla through the salsa
pero entre mi corazon algo senti falsa.
Why do we lie by our own words
Its almost like we are
scared to be heard.

The sharp english language hurts like a cut
but my creamy soft spanish rolls of my tounge.
Chile is a Nahuatl word
A representation of a blend of my two cultures

Mestiso, a swirling blend
of my Spanish colonizers
and my Native soul
stuck between two world, a sung song like a oriol

My brown tint skin
like the pews of a church or a sad sung hymn,
they do not hide behind a colonized word
so why should I hide the names of a food
of which with love we feed to you.
d m Apr 15
i arrived in that nightclub  
like an expired simile  
suffering from wanderlust  
and athlete’s doubt,  
steeped in banana daiquiris  
& debt-shaped libido.

they were playing music  
that sounded like  
an ocelot being exorcised  
in 11/8 time.  
my spine, a seismograph  
for regret.

then—  
Pax.
a humuhumunukunukuapuaʻa of a man,  
angular, paradoxical,  
a rorschach of masculinity
Masc in the biblical sense—
he wasn't trying to look at me.
he was waiting for me to stare
it was as if salsa had been conjured
solely for his gait.

he never approached.
he summoned.
and i complied.

his hand caught mine
like it was the end of a sentence,
no hesitation—
just a command.

we spun together—
hips,
bodies,
gravity.
his chest brushed mine
like an open invitation,
and I could smell it—
that heat,
the one that belonged to him
and no one else.

i was dizzy with his geometry.
hie arms around my neck
lips behind my ear
“bathroom.
now.”
it wasn’t a question.

he pressed me against cold tile—
that calcareous crucible—
with the kind of care
you’d reserve for surgical desecration.

his bra slipped off like a seraphic harness
revealing twin ectomorphic silhouettes,
orbs of human dough & statuesque cherries
androgyne relics kissed by friction
and gleaming like succulent punctuation.

he didn’t ask for permission.
he simply took.
his hands gripped my thighs,
lifting me,
guiding me to where his body needed me,
where I belonged.

my ****, a divining rod;
my thoughts, disheveled rooks
cawing in circles around his scent,
which was
old books,
new sin,
and the crushed-strawberry smudge of something surgical.
i didn't speak—
i just let him
consume.
my blood said: follow.
my pelvis said: now.

his words were no longer soft.
they came sharp,
*****,
like orders
more than a plea—
"You're mine."
and he wasn’t wrong.
he already had me

he threw his leg around mine
like punctuation at the end of a feral sentence.
we weren’t dancing—
we were ritualing.

he climbed onto me
like scaffolding,
pressed his whole glistening weight
against my need.
his *****, volcanic—
gripping my **** like
a molten vacuum
pulling the *** out of me
like he’d prayed for it
and the gods obliged.

i spilled.
big, hot, criminal.
a gluey slick,
it oozed,
thick and slow,
like molasses in a heatwave,
a lazy curl of liquid fate,
drenched in warmth
and too much need.

it sat in him—
clung like clingfilm
but thicker,
substantial,
like it planned to colonize,
a thick stretch of something primal,
not running,
but anchoring,
surrendering into him
like debt into bankruptcy

he smirked, exhaled,
and said—
in a voice like jazz bruised by bourbon:

“next week—
same time,
more ruin.”
Awake from dreams,
the roses bloom
blush and make love
like salsa waves
upon moonlit shores

Reynaldo Casison
Abraham May 2021
I bang my elbow in the shower,
takes a second to realize why

not that I was careless
or enjoy pain, again

but the cascara
cowbell, saxophone,

hands around my shoulders
that are not my own

sunlight squeezing lemons,
flower dress upon the hill

potato enchilada
still
digesting
messing
with my footwork

    possibly

maybe

    I was careless.

Showers are not the place for salsa.
ConnectHook Oct 2020
Que suenen las trompetas
un don para el presidente:
La salsa lo hará grande
y elevará su mente.

Escuchen el tumbao:
compártanlo libremente—
y que él gane en noviembre
sin tumulto ni incidente.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNMsw9oADgM
P I Watson May 2019
There’s a reason why
dancing under moonlight is a cliche.
The euphoria is relentless

Pink behind the rising moon
Your hipbone beneath my right hand
knees clash to Latin percussion
Together we count  
1 2 3…5 6 7

Trading vulnerabilities over pork and pasta,
I feel, for one awful moment,
The pain of my daughter’s contempt
You reassure a mother after being kicked by her child
123...567

Supine silence on yellow grass mats. Faint from heat
I feel sad when you recount
how I charged your phone first
You deserve kindness.  I am kind
1 2 3…5 6 7

Your laugh resounds above all
A solo from the audience
As proud and loud as any Jazzman’s improvisation  
encouraging us all to do better
1 2 3…5 6 7

Earthy smell of your skin spread across the sheets
Curled up with tan litheness, I watch
green block letters rise and fall.
Wishing it was more than breath propelling them up and down,
I curse my own heart for swelling
123...
Meg Howell Mar 2018
Fragile hands,
Weathered and cracked,
Grasping onto the neck of the swan
They are tough,
Yet, all the while, their reach is gentle,
And they glide with the swan to the pond’s lively middle

Up

Up they go

   Ricocheting off the dancing beads of
      water
    
       doing the tango,
          
         the salsa,

            and, at last,

               ballroom.
Angie Marcano Feb 2018
Darling,
take my hand and
dance with me.

Let’s perform the graceful art of painting lines on the floor with every swift move.
We spin around the dance floor, that has now become our home.
Softly, holding our bodies close.
Not too close,
but close enough.

Let us waltz into each other’s hearts with every step.
And with every movement let us prove our love.
A love for everyone to see.
Dance partners that were clearly meant to be.

Let’s dance salsa.
And no... I don’t mean the kind for chips.
The rhythmic salsa that makes our hearts beat out of our chests and intertwine with every note.
The salsa that causes the adrenaline in our bodies to rush as we follow every beat.

Let us practice our seduction through a heated tango.
As we caress each other’s bodies and souls.
Intensely loving and never wanting to let go.
A tango that will set our feelings on fire.

Darling,
Dance with me, please.
One last time before you leave.
Àŧùl Apr 2017
Come, let us dance right now!
Hold my hand and put the other behind me!
You take one step backwards,
And then two steps forwards now!

Then I will repeat the same,
And I will let you lean back on my arms,
You do so with so much grace,
Such grace that even flowers blush.
My HP Poem #1499
©Atul Kaushal
Jon Po Dom Feb 2017
Music in the air
Drinking, Dancing
Joyous laughter
Salsa flows
African Beats
Africa in Me

One, Two, Three
We feel free
Four, Five, Six
Moving to the mix
Seven, Eight, Nine
Spin her around
See her smile
Hair spills all over
A twinkle in her;
Eyes, bright
African Beats
African in Me

Love for our roots
A song that unites
All peoples
Everyone is kind
All cultures
No one left behind
We are all one
Thanks to those
African Beats

JM 10/4/16
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