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“Mirabella,” by Samuel Lind

 

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Queen

Mamacita
with round brown
hips
roll and sway
sway and roll
slow that stroll
she sings
to ease
her sticky soul
and smoothes
the slinky sateen
of her orange
skirt for a
perfect fit
for a queen.

I got soul
I got style
I ain’t no
perfect 10
but
I got soul
I got style
I sing myself
from mile
to mile.
Find a penny
in the Quarter

throw it high
throw it long
flip my wrist and
it be gone
make a wish
for my
baby brother
that he
get better
that he
get better
and then
we gon sing
and dance
together.
one day soon
we gon sing
and dance
together.

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photo by John Tobias

Emily Jon Tobias is an American author and poet raised in the Midwest who lives and works on the coast of Southern California. Her work has appeared in literary journals such as Santa Clara Review, Talking River Review, Flying South Literary Journal, Furrow Literary Journal, The Opiate Magazine, The Ocotillo Review, Jerry Jazz Musician (with work nominated for the Pushcart Prize), Typehouse Literary Magazine, and upcoming in Tahoma Literary Review, Big Muddy, TulipTree Review among others. She holds an MFA in Writing from Pacific University, Oregon and a bachelor’s degree in creative writing from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.

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The Puerto Rican artist Samuel Lind’s work has been presented in  museums and galleries in Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Cleveland, among others. In Puerto Rico, his work is shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Santurce.   To view more of his art, you can visit his website by clicking here, or by visiting his page at the Fine Arts website by clicking here

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Listen to the 1965 performance of La Lupe singing “Elube Changó,” with Tito Puento [Universal Music Group]

 

 

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