Hearing That   Joe Arroyo Song at Ibiza Nightclub, 2008 Poem by Elizabeth Acevedo

A boy I did not marry   taught me to dance salsa on 2   placed
the fingers of his left hand on my untutored spine; you know what
it's like to become someone's clave


to love for the span of the trombone's long breath he whispered
negra so I spun my heart landing on the rum-covered linoleum
of a nightclub


on what used to be New York Ave in what used to be Chocolate City
I let him turn & spin my name bella negra
his hands were less tender but still I let them roam


when I 1, 2, 3 5, 6, 7 in front of my mirror
I was always la negra defended in the lyric   and you can forgive
searching hands when a mouth swells the biggest ache of your body

into song