One Land, Split Destinies

At one time, the whole of Hispaniola
was as lush as the Dominican Republic

Poet and licensed psychotherapist, Marianela Madrano returns to the Stamford area to read selections at Barnes & Noble this evening from Diosas de la Yuca/Goddessof the Yuca (Madrid, Ediciones Torremozas) and newer material delineating the ties between politically-tormented Haiti—the first nation to abolish slavery in the Americas--and its verdant neighbor, the Dominican Republic, and how Western European colonization has perpetuated Hispaniola’s painful dichotomy to this day.

Side-by-side with this narrative is a discourse on the region as seen through the archetypal lens of its original Taino culture—especially as expressed via feminine power and spirituality both then and in the post-Columbian period.

Decades of poverty-induced deforestation
have devastated much of Haiti's ecosystem

A native of the Domincan Republic, Marianela lives in Connecticut with her husband, fellow poet and bibliotherapist Reggie Marra, where, since 1990 she has used writing and literature as tools for healing, social development and creative growth through the Palabra Learning Center.  

Marianela’s work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies throughout the Americas and in Europe, including Callalo 23.3 (Summer 2000), Sisters of Caliban: Contemporary Women Poets of the Carribean (New York, Azul Editions, 1997) and Revista Surgai (Bilbao, Spain, December 1995).

Besides 2011’s Diosas, her own titles include Curada de Espantos/One Who Has Seen It All (Madrid, Ediciones Torrzaemos, 2002), Regando Esencias/The Scent of Waiting (New York, Alcance, 1998), as well as Prietica, a children’s book to be released this spring.

“The Black Bellybutton of a Bongo” is her contribution to Callalo; also, click here to enjoy some live readings by her and Reggie and other details of their work from the June 12, 2012 PoemAlley blog entry, “A Call To Be A Bodhisattva: Poetry As The Art Of Healing”.

The Black Bellybutton of a Bongo

After contributing troops to the American
revolutionary cause, Hatians repelled
attempted re-colonization by Napoleon's
forces in 1802 

The blue-eyed grandmother 
    blue-black ears 
used to tell tales of boogie men 
    of black boogie men 
Stories of embroidered linen 
    white sheets 
    virginal sex 
    secrets of pots and beans 
    magic wand to cook good fortune 
I lost my crystal slipper in the dust 
And the prince did not soothe my bruises 
Later it was all about cactus -- no tulips-- 
In the time set for war, grandmother 
Your stories slid down my skin 
    -black not trigueña, grandmother 
    -woman not doll, abuela 
Thunder came and lightning frayed the island 
    -it was the drum- 
    -cynical laughter bursting in curls 
    tough curls fighting chemicals 
    singing kinkily and happily in the air 
Black mellow dark beautiful majesty 
I stared it in the eye 
    a wide and indivisible geography 
Since then I am a doubt planting questions 
    sharp arrow is my tongue 
    my entire body 
Before the rust I found my voice 
    my eyelashes dusted time 
I am a heroine in the jungle, grandmother 
    I see the night patrol 
        the palm trees 
            the fire 
        Yemaya with her belly made of water 
            the areito 
                Yocahu-vagua 
a little black girl prays for water 
the baquini multiplies flags 
the box of many colors, did you forget it, abuela? 
The hand closed to your bones 
    shakes a spring of twigs 
    -don't be afraid, abuela- 
Lemba greets you kindly.

Below is the trailer for the 2001 film adaptation of Julia Alvarez’ In the Time of the Butterflies (1994), the fictionalized account of the Mirabal sister’s courageous resistance movement to the terrifying U.S.-supported rule of Raphael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic (1930-1961):

Hosted by Frank Chambers and PoemAlley's Nick Miele, the Barnes & Noble's Open Mic Poetry program meets the second Monday of each month in the cooking section on the main floor of the bookstore (located in the Stamford Town Center), beginning at 7:15 p.m.

 

For more information, contact:

Barnes & Noble

100 Greyrock Place Suite H009

Stamford, CT 06901

203-323-1248

___

Additional Information:

Love in theTime of Butterflies

By Julia Alvarez

Algonquin Books, 2010

Haiti Afterthe Earthquake

Paul Farmer

PublicAffairs, 2011

Uses of Haiti

"          "

Common Courage Press, 2005 

A Continent of Islands: Searching for the Carribean Destiny
Mark Kurlansky
Da Capo Press, 1993

The Tainos: Rise and Decline of the People Who Greeted Columbus

Irving Rouse

Yale University Press, 1993