Hearing That Joe Arroyo Song at Ibiza Nightclub, 2008

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, 35, 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