Enwonderment Poem by Maria Gracie Hernandez

Enwonderment
by Maria Gracie Hernandez

I would always wonder
about the pajaros in the trees,
Why did they sing so loud?
Why bailar with no cantar?

Thinking back to those days en el barrio,
Mama made Arroz con Pollo,
y me gusta para nada those things on the table,
yellow like canaries, brown like the sweet Earth,
and Mama would stir the plantanos into a platino swirl
with azucar;
Hector would run between the legs of the table chasing Punasta,
the family gato.

And as for the sweet memories of that kitchen,
the dangling vine cookery, the warm and welcoming tapestry
of smells and bright red bandanas,
I was able to say from behind my innocent mask of dark brown curls
and oval eyes of wonder:
“Me gusta mucho, ”
I told Mama.
“Me gusta mucho.”