Written by: Ayling Zulema Dominguez
Esa niña linda
que nació de noche
quiere que la lleven
a pasear en coche
A pasear en coche
a dique caer dormida en el sofá
fingiendo nada más
para poder ser transportada
en los brazos de papá
a mi camita llena de peluches y muñequitos
sin nunca tener que tocar el piso
Esa niña linda
que nació de dia
quiere que la lleven
a la dulceria
Cuz I’m dreeeeamin’
of you tonight
You: late-July
heat wave
que-mardito-calor
days and nights
with my Champion shorts on,
sticky velcro-like thighs & AC on high
Harlem baby
Dreamy queen
Dominican
Mexican
Soft and supple
star-gazing nena
Sigue soñando, younger me.
Que naciste de noche and you have so many roads left to travel.
Ayling Zulema Dominguez is from Bronx, NY. A daughter of immigrants, her work explores identity, family, first-generation experiences, politics, and the crazy, difficult beauty of living between three cultures (Dominican, Mexican, and that of the U.S.). Ever since she heard Sandra Cisneros say, “When you are an artist, you’re always going to feel displaced; you’re never gonna feel at home. You have to find home within yourself,” she has committed to doing so by exalting her poetry and storytelling — that which is a cultural cornerstone of her communities. When she’s not reading or writing, or at work in an advocacy nonprofit, she’s dancing her worries away.
