The Most Anti-Castro City in the World

by Fred D'Aguiar

Fred D’Aguiar is Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Miami. His books of poetry include Mama Dot (1985), Airy Hall (1989), and British Subjects (1993), and Bloodlines (2002). His novels include The Longest Memory (1994), Dear Future (1996), Feeding the Ghosts (2000), and Bethany Bettany (2003).

As the wind interferes with the trees
As the cart brings the mule to its knees
As a stick of light bends in a pond
So my love for Cuba will live long

    Longer than a piece of string
    Sweeter than exile’s sting
    Brighter than the bones of Castro
    Cuba sticks to me like Velcro

As shadows grow harder than cement
As a wish outshines its fulfillment
As singers expire before their songs
So my love for Cuba will live long

    Longer than a piece of string
    Sweeter than exile’s sting
    Brighter than the bones of Castro
    Cuba sticks to me like Velcro

As the mild of mild winters in Miami
As the deep in the depths of Lake Okeechobee
As the cut-grass smell of Florida lawns
So my love for Cuba will live long

    Longer than a piece of string
    Sweeter than exile’s sting
    Brighter than the bones of Castro
    Cuba sticks to me like Velcro

As the fine in the fine sands of South Beach
As the groove in The Grove spreads its itch
As the poor in this porous paradise cling on
So my love for Cuba will live long

    Longer than a piece of string
    Sweeter than exile’s sting
    Brighter than the bones of Castro
    Cuba sticks to me like Velcro