Pa pa pa, pa pa
My feet sing in dance
under the aroma
of your island roots.
Your hands craft a symphony
from our ancestors’ recipes,
the only memory we can bring
to this placeholder home.
Together, we clutch tightly
to the fading tan on our skins
and the Spanish words we cannot recall.
Home? It must be between,
neither here nor there,
leaving us homeless in our dance.
Pa pa pa, pa p-
-d.e.p
Dariana Pérez (she/her) is a Puerto Rican-Guatemalan artist. Currently pursuing a BFA in Acting and minor in Creative Writing, she is reclaiming her voice and rooting herself in who she is rather than who she is told to be. A su Puerto Rico encantado, ella extraña y te verá pronto.